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‘No U.S., No Saddam… Yes To Freedom & Islam’: Iraqis
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“No U.S., no Saddam,” Iraqis shout
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BAGHDAD,
April 15 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Anti-American
protests intensified in the Iraqi capital and in southern Iraq
Tuesday, April 15, as U.S. occupation forces struggled secure the
country after toppling the regime of Saddam Hussein.
Exasperated
U.S. military officials tried to hamper the media from covering new
demonstrations in Baghdad while some 20,000 people in the Shiite
Muslim bastion of Nasiriyah railed against a U.S.-staged meeting on
Iraq's future, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The
protests came as the Americans delivered a first progress report in
their effort to restore Iraq to normalcy and head off a chorus of
criticism over continued lawlessness and a lack of basic services.
Some
200-300 Iraqis gathered Tuesday outside the Palestine Hotel, where the
U.S. marines have set up an operations base, for a third straight day
of protests against the U.S. occupation.
For
the first time, visibly angered U.S. military officials sought to
distance the media from the protest, moving reporters and cameras
about 30 meters (yards) from the barbed-wired entrance to the hotel.
"We
want you to pull back to the back of the hotel because they (the
Iraqis) are only performing because the media are here," said a
marine colonel who wore the name Zarcone but would not give his first
name or title.
The
crowd later moved to the nearby square where the statue of Saddam was
toppled Wednesday to signal the end of the regime. As three of the
marines' armored amphibious vehicles passed by, they chanted:
"No, no, USA."
Meanwhile,
demonstrators marched to the center of the predominantly Shiite
southern city of Nasiriyah, chanting "Yes to freedom ... Yes to
Islam ... No to America, No to Saddam."
They
were protesting a meeting of Iraqi opposition groups convened at a
nearby military base in an initial attempt by the United States to
plot out a political future for the post-Saddam Iraq.
"We
want the American and British forces to go. They have freed us from
Saddam and their job is finished," said Ihsan Mohammad, an
official with the regional federation of engineers.
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U.S. forces now face what invaders suffer
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"If
they intend to occupy us, we will oppose that. We ask them to leave us
free to decide our future and not to impose people on us."
Although
U.S. officials have all but declared their military campaign over,
tensions with the civilian population persist over a lack of police
protection, water, electricity and other basic services.
Hundreds
of international reporters here have also become increasingly
frustrated with the lack of information on the reconstruction effort
and the U.S. failure to provide other than haphazard access to public
affairs officers.
As
the Iraqi protest grew more vocal outside the hotel, a marine corporal
was holding an impromptu briefing for a few reporters on the progress
made.
Corporal
John Hoellwarth said the U.S. forces planned to boost joint police
patrols, bring more hospitals back into service and have power
restored to parts of Baghdad within 72 hours.
Hoellwarth
said the Americans were in Iraq to support the Iraqis, not rule over
them. "We are only going to stay here long enough to help the
Iraqi people restore critical infrastructure and help them restore a
government," he said.
He
said 50 electrical engineers were brought in to assess the damage to
the power system of the capital which went down April 4 amid massive
U.S. bombings and repairs began Monday.
"We
expect power to be restored to parts of Baghdad in the next 48 to 72
hours," he said.
With
Baghdad's hospital system in a virtual state of collapse after
widespread pillage, Hoellwarth said 14 of the city's 33 facilities
were secure and operational. He could not say when the others would
reopen.
Hoellworth
said that joint Iraqi-U.S. police patrols began Monday with five Iraqi
cars going out accompanied by marines in all-terrain Humvees, and
"today many more patrols are running."
He
said that U.S. forces put out a call for 150 Iraqi policemen on Monday
and had between 700 and 1,000 reporting for duty.
"They
are progressing steadily and we are also working to work out
neighborhood watch programs," Hoellwarth said.
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