Shiite Muslims Rally To Demand Saddams Execution

(20 Jan 2004)

1. Various of demonstration
2. Demonstrators chanting: "Yes! Yes To Muqtada (popular Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr)"
3. Banner reading: ''Saddam a criminal of war and prisoner of war''
4. Young boys holding each other forming a fence
5. Demonstrators carrying a banner (in English) ''Blood of Sadr, Kurds and national parties decide destiny of Saddam.''
6. Demonstrators chanting: ''No to federalism and no to division''
7. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Vox Pop, Demonstrator:
''This demonstration is firstly to demand general elections which the top Shiite clerics have called for. Secondly, it is to reject the American decision to treat that cursed Saddam as a prisoner of war, while he is a war criminal. The purpose of the march is also to reject dividing Iraq by federalism.''
8. Demonstrators chanting: "Yes, Yes for Islam, Saddam should be executed.''
9. Sheikhs marching
10. A child in a wheelchair carrying a poster
11. Women carrying posters of Muqtada
12. SOUNDBITE: (English) Vox Pop, Demonstrator:
''We want Saddam to be tried by us; he is not a prisoner of war. The war has finished.''
13. Iraqi police at demonstration
14. A demonstrator standing on a pole carrying posters of Muqtada and his father
15. U.S. tank in front of demonstrators
16. Soldiers on tanks watching demonstrators
17. Top view of demonstration

STORYLINE:

Thousands of Shiite Muslims marched through Baghdad on Tuesday, calling for Saddam Hussein's execution in the latest show of strength by a community repressed for decades by the former dictator.

It is believed to be the first public demonstration in Iraq to demand death for Saddam since he was captured by U.S.
forces on December 13.

The demonstrators, who marched from Sadr City, a Baghdad suburb, to Firdous Square in central Baghdad carried posters of a Shiite leader, Muqtada al-Sadr, the son of a cleric killed in 1999 by suspected Saddam agents.

Firdous Square was the scene of the dramatic toppling of a Saddam statue on April 9.

Protesters also voiced their objections to the ongoing discussion among Iraqi leaders about transforming Iraq into a federal state.

Many Shiites and Sunnis fear it would break up Iraq and grant virtual freedom to the northern Kurds, another community suppressed by Saddam.

The protests were aimed to send a message to the United Nations and Washington that Shiites will not accept a U.S. formula for transferring power by July 1 to a legislature selected in regional caucuses, instead of by a direct vote as the Shiite clergy demands.

U.S. and Iraqi officials have meanwhile asked the United Nations to send a team to study the possibility of holding elections in Iraq.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan indicated that he was leaning toward granting the request but said he wanted more details.

He said he hoped to make a speedy decision.

Much of the Shiite show of force has emerged after Ayatollah al-Sistani, the country's most prominent Shiite cleric, issued a public demand earlier this month for early elections.

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Author

Ariyani

Como educador, estou profundamente engajado no desenvolvimento dos estudantes em ambiente escolar, adotando métodos pedagógicos que valorizam conexões genuínas e são movidos por inovação e fervor. É minha vocação guiar os alunos na jornada de se tornarem uma geração notável, empregando estratégias de ensino amplamente aclamadas por prestigiadas instituições acadêmicas ao redor do globo - events.zulekhahospitals.com