BAGHDAD, Jan 25 (NNN-NINA) – Thousands of supporters of Iraqi cleric, Moqtada Sadr, gathered in Baghdad for a rally, to demand the ouster of US troops.
The march rattled the separate, months-old protest movement, that gripped the capital and the Shiite-majority south since Oct, demanding a government overhaul, early elections and more accountability.
In the early hours of Friday, thousands of men, women and children of all ages massed under grey skies in the Jadiriyah district of east Baghdad.
“Get out, get out, occupier!” some shouted, while others chanted, “Yes to sovereignty!“
A representative of Sadr took to the stage at the protest site and read out a statement by the influential Shiite cleric and populist politician.
It called for all foreign forces to leave Iraq, the cancelation of Iraq’s security agreements with the US, the closure of Iraqi airspace to American military and surveillance aircraft and for US President Donald Trump not to be “arrogant” when addressing Iraqis.
“If all this is implemented, we will deal with it as a non-occupying country — otherwise it will be considered a country hostile to Iraq,” the statement said.
The American military presence has been a hot-button issue in Iraq since a US drone strike killed Iranian general, Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi paramilitary leader Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis outside Baghdad airport.
Two days later, parliament voted for all foreign troops, including some 5,200 US personnel, to leave the country.
The vote was non-binding and the US special envoy for the coalition against the Daesh group, James Jeffrey, said there was no “real engagement” between the two governments on the issue.
Joint US-Iraqi operations against Daesh have been on hold since the drone attack, which triggered retaliatory Iranian missile strikes against US troops in Iraq.
No Iraqi or US personnel were killed in Iran’s strike.
Long opposed to the US troop presence, Sadr seized on public anger over the drone strike to call “a million-strong, peaceful, unified demonstration to condemn the American presence and its violations.”
Several pro-Iran factions from the Hashed Al-Shaabi paramilitary force, usually rivals of Sadr, backed his call and pledged to join.
But separate anti-government protesters, who braved violence that has left 470 people dead since Oct, fear their cause could be eclipsed by Sadr’s power play.
To head off Friday’s gathering and ramp up pressure on authorities to enact reforms, young demonstrators blocked streets in Baghdad and across the south.
The move would not be without precedent for Sadr, who urged followers to storm the Green Zone in 2016, in a challenge to the government over reforms.
But there were no attempts on Friday morning to storm government buildings.
Sadr, 46, battled US forces at the head of his Mehdi Army militia after the US-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
He later branded himself a reformist and backed the recent anti-government protests when they erupted.
The cleric controls parliament’s largest bloc and his followers hold top ministerial positions.
Sadr is a notoriously fickle politician, known for switching alliances quickly.
His spokesman, Saleh Al-Obeidy, hinted that while others in Iraq unequivocally blamed either the US or Iran for instability, Sadr would choose a middle path.
“We believe that both are behind this ruin, and Sadr is trying to balance between the two,” he said.
“On the other hand, he also wants to sustain his image as the leader of the resistance to the ‘American occupation’,” partly to win favour with Iran.
“This protest will show, Sadr is still the one able to mobilise large groups of people in the streets — but it’s also possible he wants other groups to respond by giving him more space to choose the prime minister.”
