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Thousands protest coalition in Baghdad
« on: Apr 18th, 2003, 8:48am » |
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Thousands protest coalition in Baghdad
Central Command: No. 24 on most-wanted list captured
Friday, April 18, 2003 Posted: 9:20 AM EDT (1320 GMT)
BAGHDAD (CNN) -- Demanding an end to "occupation" by coalition forces, thousands of Iraqis rallied near the center of Baghdad following Friday prayers.
The demonstrations centered around the Abu Hanifa Mosque, as Sunni and Shiite Muslims were holding a unity rally.
Banners carried by the surging crowd said "Iraq ruled by Iraqis," "No occupation" and "Unity." Demonstrators chanted anti-American slogans.
The minority Sunni Muslims make up about a third of Iraq's population, but have held political power for decades by repression of the Shiite majority, which comprises up to two-thirds of the population.
Iman Ahmed Qubeisi, a prominent Shiite cleric, told the crowd that there is no difference between the Muslim sects. Religious differences have split the groups for 13 centuries.
At a briefing Friday at U.S. Central Command headquarters in Qatar, Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks said that Iraqis have a right to demonstrate in a free Iraq and that he expected them to voice a variety of opinions about the coalition presence.
"There will be some that want to see a departure of the coalition, some want to see that to return power the way it was, and others want to do it to remind us this is Iraq for the Iraqi people and we are quite aware of that and we respect that," he said.
Brooks also said that Kurds in northern Iraq turned over Samir abd al Aziz al Najm -- No. 24 on the 55 most-wanted list -- to Special Operations forces. (Full list, gallery of images from most-wanted deck)
"He was a Baath Party official, a regional command chairman for the Baghdad district and is believed to have firsthand knowledge of the Baath Party central structure," Brooks said.
Central Command announced Thursday that coalition forces captured Saddam Hussein's half-brother, Barzan Ibrahim Hasan al Tikriti.
Meanwhile, the United States is sending a 1,000-member team to Iraq to hunt for weapons of mass destruction, Pentagon officials said Thursday.
Initial elements of the "Iraq Survey Group" are already in Iraq and the full organization should be operational within a couple of weeks, a defense official said.
The group, probably to be led by a general, will consist of military personnel, government intelligence analysts, civilian scientists and private contractors.
The survey team will focus on putting more people into the country to undertake a more organized search based on intelligence leads.
While U.S. military personnel have yet to find chemical, biological or nuclear weapons within Iraq, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he believes it will take Iraqis coming forward with information before such weapons turn up.
United Nations chief weapons inspector Hans Blix wants his team of inspectors to return, saying it would increase the credibility of any weapons discoveries. He withdrew the U.N. team days before the war started. (Full story)
Seven soldiers waved and smiled Friday from a balcony at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, their first official appearance since U.S. Marines rescued them from Iraqi guards who held them as prisoners of war for three weeks.
"We want to thank all of our fellow Americans for the tremendous support we've been getting," said Chief Warrant Officer David Williams, speaking for the group. "We're looking forward to coming home as soon as we can."
One soldier's family, who didn't want to be identified, told CNN they expect the soldiers will be reunited with their families at Fort Hood, Texas, where the two Apache pilots are based.
The 507th Maintenance Company is based at Fort Bliss, Texas, about 500 miles from Fort Hood. (Full story)
Other developments
Samir abd al Aziz al Najm -- No. 24 on the U.S. military's 55 most-wanted list -- has been handed over to the coalition's Special Operations forces by Iraqi Kurds, Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks said Friday.
• Abu Dhabi TV broadcast videotape Friday showing a man said to be Saddam Hussein in the Azamiyah neighborhood of Baghdad on April 9, the day the Iraqi capital fell to U.S. troops. In the tape, a man who appears to be Saddam climbs onto the hood of a car and waves to a crowd of supporters. Saddam's son, Qusay, also appears to be visible in the tape. The network did not disclose the source of the tape and there was no way to verify its authenticity.
• As many as 1,600 people may have buried in shallow graves found on the outskirts of a military base southwest of Kirkuk, local residents said. They told CNN's Jane Arraf that the graves are at least 12 years old. Coalition forces will work with the Iraqis to determine who is buried there, Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks of U.S. Central Command said Friday.
• The United States awarded California-based Bechtel Corp., one of the world's largest engineering, construction and development companies, a multimillion dollar contract for reconstruction in Iraq, the U.S. Agency for International Development announced Thursday. The contract provides $34.6 million for initial construction and allows for funding of up to $680 million over 18 months. The funding is "subject to congressional authority and availability," according to a USAID statement. Riley P. Bechtel, the company's chairman and CEO, was appointed in February to the President's Export Council -- President Bush's advisory committee on international trade. (Full story)
• The chairman of a committee that advises the White House on protecting antiquities around the world has resigned over what he says is the U.S. failure to stop looting at Iraq's national museum. In a letter sent Monday to President Bush, Martin Sullivan, who headed the White House Cultural Property Advisory Committee, said the "tragedy was foreseeable and preventable." Two other members, Gary Vikan and Richard Lanier, also resigned in protest.
• The international law enforcement agency Interpol announced Friday that it had formed a "special incident response team" to hunt down art and antiquities stolen from Iraqi museums and those responsible for the thefts. The United States also plans to send FBI agents to Iraq to assist with criminal investigations against people who looted museums and other sites.
• At Iraq's central public health laboratory, vials, syringes and papers were strewn across the courtyard, the work of looters who did not yield to the urgent hand-scrawled messages on the lab's front gate warning of "pollution," "biohazard" and "danger." While most of the vials and samples were dumped on the ground outside, researchers were worried some looters left with potentially dangerous material that was in refrigerators and other equipment stolen from the site last week after the fall of Saddam's regime.
• The Czech Republic is sending humanitarian aid workers and equipment to Iraq -- including a field hospital with 281 staffers and a water treatment facility that can produce up to 26,000 gallons of drinkable water per hour. The Czech Parliament also has authorized about 400 Czech weapons experts -- who had been stationed in Kuwait -- to operate in Iraq.
CNN correspondents Ben Wedeman, Christiane Amanpour, Jim Clancy, Michael Holmes, Tom Mintier, Nic Robertson and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.
EDITOR'S NOTE: CNN's policy is to not report information that puts operational security at risk.
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