Miami Herald
December 11, 2003
In Downtown Baghdad, Voices Against Violence
A protest of terrorism attracting thousands snarls streets in Baghdad as two more Americans are killed in northern Iraq.
By Maureen Fan, Knight Ridder News Service
BAGHDAD - Five thousand to 10,000 Iraqis tried to send terrorists a cease-and-desist message Wednesday from downtown Baghdad in the biggest demonstration against violence to date.
But insurgents continued to strike at the U.S.-led coalition, killing two American soldiers and wounding four in two incidents in northern Iraq.
An Air Force C-17 transport plane also made an emergency landing after an explosion in one of its engines during takeoff from Baghdad, possibly after being hit by a missile.
The two strikes, in and near Mosul, came a day after a suicide bomber injured dozens of soldiers in the same region. One 101st Airborne soldier was killed and one wounded east of Mosul by small-arms fire from two vehicles. Three hours later, another 101st Airborne soldier was killed and three wounded in Mosul when their convoy was hit by a roadside bomb and small-arms fire.
In Baghdad, the protesters snarled traffic by filling Fateh Square near the National Theater and Fardos Square in front of the Palestine Hotel. Chanting ''No, no terrorism'' and ''Yes, yes Islam,'' they carried photographs of religious leaders and unfurled banners that read ``The Iraqis Should Not Forget Palestine.''
Coalition officials have said that despite pockets of resistance, most Iraqis support the presence of American troops and oppose the resistance. By strengthening Iraqi security forces and announcing a plan to turn over sovereignty to Iraqis by next summer, the United States hopes to stem some of the anger and frustration many Iraqis have voiced.
Protest organizers, including Brig. Gen. Tawfik al Yassiri, a member of the Iraqi Reconstruction and Development Council, which the Pentagon established in February, had invited political parties, religious groups, schools and unions to participate in the protest. ''We didn't expect this big a crowd to respond,'' said al Yassiri, who is also secretary-general of the Iraqi National Coalition, an exile group. ``It was hard to organize all these groups who filled the streets and the sidewalks.''
Marchers cited a number of reasons for demonstrating.
''There are so many jobless people. If foreign companies were to come here, there would be more jobs, but they will not come if they are afraid of terrorism, so we should protect these companies. We want to live,'' said Kareem Abed Kareen, 52, who's unemployed.
''All these shortages -- electricity, propane for cooking, benzene [gasoline], oil for heating -- and the high prices for all of these things, are connected to terrorism,'' said Amar Anwar, a 50-year-old hospital security guard who complained about sabotage. ``If you have no way to make a living, you will protest in another way, by causing trouble and making explosions.''
In other developments, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Iraq is still too dangerous to reopen the U.N. office in Baghdad, and most U.N. functions in Iraq will operate from a new regional base in Nicosia, Cyprus. There will be a smaller U.N. office in Amman, Jordan, Annan said in a report to the Security Council.
EDIT to fix sentence structure of title
December 11, 2003
In Downtown Baghdad, Voices Against Violence
A protest of terrorism attracting thousands snarls streets in Baghdad as two more Americans are killed in northern Iraq.
By Maureen Fan, Knight Ridder News Service
BAGHDAD - Five thousand to 10,000 Iraqis tried to send terrorists a cease-and-desist message Wednesday from downtown Baghdad in the biggest demonstration against violence to date.
But insurgents continued to strike at the U.S.-led coalition, killing two American soldiers and wounding four in two incidents in northern Iraq.
An Air Force C-17 transport plane also made an emergency landing after an explosion in one of its engines during takeoff from Baghdad, possibly after being hit by a missile.
The two strikes, in and near Mosul, came a day after a suicide bomber injured dozens of soldiers in the same region. One 101st Airborne soldier was killed and one wounded east of Mosul by small-arms fire from two vehicles. Three hours later, another 101st Airborne soldier was killed and three wounded in Mosul when their convoy was hit by a roadside bomb and small-arms fire.
In Baghdad, the protesters snarled traffic by filling Fateh Square near the National Theater and Fardos Square in front of the Palestine Hotel. Chanting ''No, no terrorism'' and ''Yes, yes Islam,'' they carried photographs of religious leaders and unfurled banners that read ``The Iraqis Should Not Forget Palestine.''
Coalition officials have said that despite pockets of resistance, most Iraqis support the presence of American troops and oppose the resistance. By strengthening Iraqi security forces and announcing a plan to turn over sovereignty to Iraqis by next summer, the United States hopes to stem some of the anger and frustration many Iraqis have voiced.
Protest organizers, including Brig. Gen. Tawfik al Yassiri, a member of the Iraqi Reconstruction and Development Council, which the Pentagon established in February, had invited political parties, religious groups, schools and unions to participate in the protest. ''We didn't expect this big a crowd to respond,'' said al Yassiri, who is also secretary-general of the Iraqi National Coalition, an exile group. ``It was hard to organize all these groups who filled the streets and the sidewalks.''
Marchers cited a number of reasons for demonstrating.
''There are so many jobless people. If foreign companies were to come here, there would be more jobs, but they will not come if they are afraid of terrorism, so we should protect these companies. We want to live,'' said Kareem Abed Kareen, 52, who's unemployed.
''All these shortages -- electricity, propane for cooking, benzene [gasoline], oil for heating -- and the high prices for all of these things, are connected to terrorism,'' said Amar Anwar, a 50-year-old hospital security guard who complained about sabotage. ``If you have no way to make a living, you will protest in another way, by causing trouble and making explosions.''
In other developments, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Iraq is still too dangerous to reopen the U.N. office in Baghdad, and most U.N. functions in Iraq will operate from a new regional base in Nicosia, Cyprus. There will be a smaller U.N. office in Amman, Jordan, Annan said in a report to the Security Council.
EDIT to fix sentence structure of title
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