Iraqis demonstrate against British troops in Basra
The Iraq Solidarity Camapign | 22.09.2005 11:57 | Social Struggles
BASRA, Iraq (AFP) - Hundreds of Iraqis, including policemen in uniform, protested against the presence of British troops in the southern city of Basra after a police station was stormed to free two British soldiers.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari was to hold talks in London, where public concern has been on the rise over Britain's deployment in southern
Iraq.
"We condemn the illegal acts of British troops," read a banner carried by the demonstrators, who numbered around 300, gathered outside Basra's main police headquarters.
"No, no to the occupier," they chanted, carrying banners which called for the return of the two soldiers to face Iraqi justice, while British troops who patrol the port city kept out of sight.
US-led coalition troops are not subject to Iraqi law.
The demonstrators handed in a list of demands to the police headquarters, including the resignation of the provincial police chief, accusing him of being "an agent" of the British.
"The British promised us sovereignty. So where is this sovereignty if they destroy a police station?" asked one demonstrator.
The demonstration ended peacefully after their demands were delivered for British troops to hand back the two soldiers to be tried in an Iraqi court, along with compensation for the damaged police station.
British forces on Monday stormed the station to free the two soldiers, who were arrested by police after a shooting incident in the town.
The two bearded men had apparently been working undercover as they were wearing Arab clothing and driving a civilian car at the time of arrest.
The storming of the police station followed a riot in which demonstrators firebombed two British armoured cars.
After ramming their way into the police station, British troops found the two soldiers had been spirited away by Shiite militiamen and taken to a safe house. A second raid was then mounted on the house and the soldiers released.
Both the British and Iraqi governments have tried to play down the incident.
According to Iraqi MP Ali Dabagh, Shiite militiamen from the outlawed Medhi Army of firebrand cleric Moqtada Sadr wanted to hold the soldiers hostage and exchange them for two of their leaders arrested Sunday by British forces.
Britain Defence Secretary John Reid was due to hold talks later Wednesday with Jaafari, the British defence ministry said, that were likely to focus on the events in Basra.
With British newspapers reflecting public disquiet over the dangers faced by Britain's troops in Iraq, Reid has said the troops would remain as long "as they are needed and requested by the Iraqis".
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld appeared to blame
Iran for the incident when he called on its Shiite-led government not to overplay its hand in southern Iraq.
The Iranians "are interested, they are involved and they are active. And it's not helpful", Rumsfeld told a
Pentagon press conference.
Iran insisted Wednesday it had no hand in the fresh violence in southern Iraq and dismissed as "baseless and fictitious" Rumsfeld's allegations.
"The news published recently is baseless and fictitious, and it is circulating to cover up occupying forces' inability to provide security in Iraq," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told state news agency IRNA.
In other developments, two Iraqi journalists working for the national newspaper As-Safeer were shot dead also over the past few days in the northern city of Mosul, the chief editor said Wednesday.
Firas Maadidi, head of Al-Safeer's Mosul office, was shot dead Tuesday evening, while Hind Ismaeel was found shot dead Sunday after she was kidnapped on Friday, Hussein Juburi told AFP.
And two Iraqi police commandos were killed and two wounded when their patrol came under machine-gun fire in northern Baghdad.
A charred, beheaded body was found in eastern Baghdad, police said.
Iraq.
"We condemn the illegal acts of British troops," read a banner carried by the demonstrators, who numbered around 300, gathered outside Basra's main police headquarters.
"No, no to the occupier," they chanted, carrying banners which called for the return of the two soldiers to face Iraqi justice, while British troops who patrol the port city kept out of sight.
US-led coalition troops are not subject to Iraqi law.
The demonstrators handed in a list of demands to the police headquarters, including the resignation of the provincial police chief, accusing him of being "an agent" of the British.
"The British promised us sovereignty. So where is this sovereignty if they destroy a police station?" asked one demonstrator.
The demonstration ended peacefully after their demands were delivered for British troops to hand back the two soldiers to be tried in an Iraqi court, along with compensation for the damaged police station.
British forces on Monday stormed the station to free the two soldiers, who were arrested by police after a shooting incident in the town.
The two bearded men had apparently been working undercover as they were wearing Arab clothing and driving a civilian car at the time of arrest.
The storming of the police station followed a riot in which demonstrators firebombed two British armoured cars.
After ramming their way into the police station, British troops found the two soldiers had been spirited away by Shiite militiamen and taken to a safe house. A second raid was then mounted on the house and the soldiers released.
Both the British and Iraqi governments have tried to play down the incident.
According to Iraqi MP Ali Dabagh, Shiite militiamen from the outlawed Medhi Army of firebrand cleric Moqtada Sadr wanted to hold the soldiers hostage and exchange them for two of their leaders arrested Sunday by British forces.
Britain Defence Secretary John Reid was due to hold talks later Wednesday with Jaafari, the British defence ministry said, that were likely to focus on the events in Basra.
With British newspapers reflecting public disquiet over the dangers faced by Britain's troops in Iraq, Reid has said the troops would remain as long "as they are needed and requested by the Iraqis".
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld appeared to blame
Iran for the incident when he called on its Shiite-led government not to overplay its hand in southern Iraq.
The Iranians "are interested, they are involved and they are active. And it's not helpful", Rumsfeld told a
Pentagon press conference.
Iran insisted Wednesday it had no hand in the fresh violence in southern Iraq and dismissed as "baseless and fictitious" Rumsfeld's allegations.
"The news published recently is baseless and fictitious, and it is circulating to cover up occupying forces' inability to provide security in Iraq," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told state news agency IRNA.
In other developments, two Iraqi journalists working for the national newspaper As-Safeer were shot dead also over the past few days in the northern city of Mosul, the chief editor said Wednesday.
Firas Maadidi, head of Al-Safeer's Mosul office, was shot dead Tuesday evening, while Hind Ismaeel was found shot dead Sunday after she was kidnapped on Friday, Hussein Juburi told AFP.
And two Iraqi police commandos were killed and two wounded when their patrol came under machine-gun fire in northern Baghdad.
A charred, beheaded body was found in eastern Baghdad, police said.
The Iraq Solidarity Camapign
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Comments
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conspiracy
22.09.2005 12:35
Jamie
Only 300?
22.09.2005 14:17
Paul Edwards
comment
22.09.2005 16:05
2) one of the GOON replies above makes reference to the QUOTED size of the demonstration. Hilarious, given that even a child of three knows that the media ALWAYS deflates the size of anti-government crowds, and inflates the size of pro-government crowds. Also, as an aside, one should remember that whenever a sizable crowd gathers in Iraq to say something anti-Blair, many of them frequently end up murdered. Given this fact, it amazes me that people are brave enough to ever publically protest.
Oh, and especially for the New Labour (New Reich) goons that seem to infest these forums, the trouble in Fallujah that led to Blair genociding the whole city started with a peaceful protest outside a major school there that Blair was using as a base for his death squads. Blair's response to this protest was to have the protestors machine-gunned to death. Blair then had the city flooded with mercenaries to run his kidnap, rape, and torture operations. The people of Fallujah, showing staggering courage, worked to execute the terrorists en masse, famously hanging the burnt bodies of a number of the terrorists from a bridge. This act of defiance against the brutal and murderous face of Blair's occupation gave Blair the opportunity to make an example of a whole city of people. AFP, AP, BBC, Reuters etc were ordered to run a continuous stream of repugnant racist anti-Iraqi propaganda. One message was to be broadcast, and one alone- for the crime of defiance, the city was to be put to the sword. Hitler used to kill 10 or 100 innocents for each dead Nazi. The BBC clearly and willingly stated that 10's of thousands must be targeted for each of Blair's torturers killed within Fallujah. The final stage happened thus- Blair had failed over and over to persuade Bush to waste more US lives in Blair's plan to exterminate Fallujah fully (Bush had an election to worry about). So, for the first time since the invasion, Blair moved a mass of UK soldiers north near Fallujah, to coerce Bush. Bush, the election won, no longer gave a damn about US lives, so finally responded to the order, and a city died. THAT is what you New Labour (New Reich) goons are cheering for, every last one of you.
3) QUOTE "US-led coalition troops are not subject to Iraqi law". AFP is a particularly worthless journalistic source, run by lazy retards. Since the quisling so-called Iraq government were 'sworn' in, troops and mercenaries ARE subject to Iraq law. It just so happens that 'Iraq law' states that they have total immunity against ANY CRIMES committed within Iraq. Of course, this 'law' was passed with a gun held to each quisling head, and a large pile of cash waiting for each of them in a foreign bank account. Or did some of you think that quislings worked for free? Would you?
4) You will notice a lack of mention of Sistani's name. Remarkable, really, given the role played by this stooge of BOTH Iran, and Blair. Did you know that Sistani has recently issued a wide ranging Fatwah against the arab neighbours of Iraq. Sistani's real base of operations is of course, London, which by a strange co-incidence is Iran's international base of operation too. Now you should understand why the Iranians are so convinced that Bush isn't going to nuke them (just as Saddam was convinced that the US would not respond to his invasion of Kuwait). Unfortunately, their REAL enemy is Blair, who works under that age old principle of keeping one's friends close, and one's enemies closer. The Iranians should really consider studying British History.
twilight
hey, twilight?
22.09.2005 17:24
You are presenting a scenario that all supposed anti-govt leaders are really pro-govt agents "under cover". This MAY be the truth, but I think that highly unlikely. The only conclusion people could draw from believing this is "resistance is futile, fascism has been here for many years".
Well I don't buy that. And I hope that all those who'll be turning up on Saturday don't buy it either.
I agree that leaked evidence has suggested that SOME former politicians were working at SOME point with the intelligence services, but we don't know what they were working on so maybe we shouldn't judge. I also agree that the trail of evidence on 7/7 is very thin, if the video of Khan is taken to be a fake, and that Blair has become (or been forced to be) one of the least admired beings on the planet.
But I still think the British people are too smart to be taken totally for a ride by the media. We'll see how many turn out on Saturday, and what Tony Benn has to say. Interesting that Galloway is not on the speakers list...
Copernicus
Galloway
22.09.2005 19:28
Interloper from IE