Militia and protesters light fires, throw stones at Baghdad U.S. embassy compound
Record ID:
1450940
Militia and protesters light fires, throw stones at Baghdad U.S. embassy compound
- Title: Militia and protesters light fires, throw stones at Baghdad U.S. embassy compound
- Date: 31st December 2019
- Summary: BAGHDAD, IRAQ (DECEMBER 31, 2019) (REUTERS) MILITIA FIGHTERS MARCHING AND CHANTING ANTI-AMERICA SLOGANS PROTESTERS THROWING STONES AT THE U.S. EMBASSY COMPOUND VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS OUTSIDE U.S. EMBASSY COMPOUND VARIOUS OF MILITIA MEMBERS AND PROTESTERS SETTING FIRES AT U.S. EMBASSY COMPOUND WALL VARIOUS OF ASAIB AHL AL-HAQ MILITIA LEADER, QAIS AL-KHAZALI (GREY OUTFIT, WHITE HEADDRESS) WALKING THROUGH CROWD WITH BADR ORGANISATION LEADER, HADI AL-AMIRI (BLACK CLOTHING, NO HEADDRESS) KHAZALI HOLDING A SIGN (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ASAIB AHL AL-HAQ MILITIA LEADER, QAIS AL-KHAZALI, SAYING: "This embassy has been proved to be an embassy of plotting against Iraq, the embassy of spying on Iraq and the embassy of running schemes of sabotage in Iraq. It is a place of plotting against Iraq, it is a place of supporting saboteurs, this embassy is the place of supporting the American Joker. This place is where all operations of sabotage have been run. This place is where the sovereignty of the country is violated.'' PROTESTERS ON TOP OF GUARD HOUSE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ASAIB AHL AL-HAQ MILITIA LEADER, QAIS AL-KHAZALI, DISCUSSING U.S. AIR STRIKES, SAYING: ''It is flagrant aggression, it is aggression on Iraq's sovereignty. It is a violation of all norms and values. This aggression won't pass unpunished.'' PROTESTERS WITH MILITIA FLAG BY U.S. EMBASSY COMPOUND WALL PROTESTERS THROWING STONES AT THE U.S. EMBASSY COMPOUND TOWER
- Embargoed: 14th January 2020 10:56
- Keywords: Baghdad Iraq Kataib Hezbollah Protests U.S. air strikes U.S. embassy anti-U.S. protests
- Location: BAGHDAD, IRAQ
- City: BAGHDAD, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA001BCB26H3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The U.S. ambassador to Iraq and other staff were evacuated from their embassy in Baghdad for their safety on Tuesday (December 31), Iraqi officials said, as thousands of protesters and militia fighters thronged the gates, threw stones and lit fires in fury at U.S. air strikes in Iraq.
On Sunday (December 29), U.S. planes had attacked bases belonging to an Iranian-backed militia, a move that risks drawing Iraq further into a proxy conflict between Washington and Tehran at a time when mass protests are challenging Iraq's political system.
The attack on the Kataib Hezbollah militia was in response to the killing of a U.S. civilian contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base.
The two Iraqi foreign ministry officials did not say when the U.S. ambassador or other staff had left but added that a few embassy protection staff remained.
Outside the embassy, protesters threw stones at the gate while others chanted, "No, no, America! ... No, no, Trump!" Iraqi special forces were deployed around the main gate to prevent them entering the embassy. U.S.-trained and -equipped Iraqi Counter Terrorism forces were later dispatched to reinforce these units.
(Production: Maher Nazeh, Mohammed Kaftan, George Sargent) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None