Thousands of supporters of volatile Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr gathered in Baghdad on Friday for a “million-strong” march to demand the ouster of US troops, putting the protest-hit capital on edge.
Since mid-morning on the Muslim day of prayers, loudspeakers blasted “No, no America!” at a central square in the Iraqi capital. A child held up a poster reading, “Death to America. Death to Israel.”
The march has rattled the separate, months-old protest movement that has gripped the capital and the Shiite-majority south since October, demanding a government overhaul, early elections and more accountability.
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!”
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 on January 3.
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 a senior US official said Thursday that Washington had yet to open talks with Baghdad on a troop pullout.
“There has not been any real engagement,” said ambassador James Jeffrey, the US special envoy for Syria and the coalition against the Islamic State group.
But he added that operations against the jihadists had been on hold since the drone strike, which triggered retaliatory Iranian missile strikes targeting US troops in Iraq.
“Coalition operations have been primarily on pause in Iraq as we focus on force protection and looking into the way forward with the Iraqi government,” Jeffrey said.
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-Iranian factions from the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force, usually rivals of Sadr, have backed his call and pledged to join.
Preparations were in full swing as early as noon on Thursday, with additional checkpoints across Baghdad to secure the protest area and buses ferrying in people for the rally.
'Million-Man March' kicks off in Baghdad to demand US troop pullout (VIDEO, PHOTOS)
A massive demonstration –called for by a prominent Shia cleric– has flooded the streets of the Iraq's capital Baghdad, with thousands voicing their anger at the US military presence there.
Early on Friday morning, throngs of protesters – men and women, young and old – began amassing at al-Hurriya Square in central Baghdad, near the city's main university. The anti-America rally, dubbed the "Million-man March," was called by Moqtada al-Sadr, Iraq's top Shiite cleric.
Some were wearing white robes, symbolizing their readiness to die for a religious cause, while others were pictured holding signs that read: "To the families of American soldiers – insist on the withdrawal of [your] sons from our country or prepare their coffins!"
There are no reports yet on protesters heading for the US embassy, but a banner warning against crossing the barriers has reportedly been erected outside the mission.
The march comes just weeks after Iraq was shaken by an American drone strike near Baghdad airport, which killed Iran's top General Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy chief of Iraq's Shia militia, along with other officers.
Aside from triggering a flare-up of military tensions and a retaliatory Iranian strike on US bases in Iraq, the killing sparked outrage among those Iraqis who see the 16-year American troop presence in their country as an unlawful occupation.
Official Baghdad, for its part, blamed Washington for breaching its sovereignty, with the lawmakers of the Islamic republic having passed a non-binding resolution calling on the government to expel all foreign troops from the country.
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