Iraqis Say ‘No’ To U.S. Occupation — Thousands Demand Troop Withdraw

BAGHDAD The streets of Najaf filled with tens of thousands of protesters on the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad to U.S.-led coalition forces last week.

The protesters demanded that the U.S. military leave Iraq as they burned American flags and chanted “Death to America!”

The day-long event is said to have been the largest public outcry against the U.S. occupation in the heart of the Shiite territories in Iraq.

Iraqi security forces reported no violence during Monday’s activities. Vehicle traffic was banned near the march and in Baghdad.

The Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr failed to appear at the rally to publicly encourage his supporters who were calling for national unity.

Al-Sadr has attempted to foster Iraqi nationalism, though he has been accused of doing otherwise.

Since February, he has been avoiding the U.S. military for, among other things, supporting Sunni insurgents who battled marines in Falluja in 2004.

The day before the protest, Sadr called for Mahdi militiamen and Iraqi forces in Diwaniya to lay down their arms. The call, however, fell on deaf ears.

At Sadrain Square, a statement attributed to Sadr was read over loudspeakers.

“America made efforts to stoke sectarian strife, and here I would like to tell you, the sons of the two rivers, that you have proved your ability to surpass difficulties and sacrifice yourselves, despite the conspiracies of the evil powers against you,” the statement reader said.

Still, at the Najaf protest, about 30 Sunni Arabs stood with the Shiites, according to the New York Times.

“We support Moktada in this demonstration, and we stress our rejection of foreign occupation,” said Ayad Abdul Wahab of the Iraqi Islamic Party.

Haider Abdul Rahim Mustafa, a 23-year-old employee in the Interior Ministry, said that the U.S. government had keep Iraq’s former president Saddam Hussein in power until he was no longer needed.

“The fall of Saddam means nothing to us as long as the alternative is the American occupation,” he said.