IRAQ: Supporters of Iraq's Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki march in Baghdad in response to ongoing Sunnis protests against their perceived political marginalisation

Record ID: 213830

  • Title: IRAQ: Supporters of Iraq's Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki march in Baghdad in response to ongoing Sunnis protests against their perceived political marginalisation
  • Date: 12th January 2013
  • Summary: BAGHDAD, IRAQ ( JANUARY 12, 2013) (REUTERS) SUPPORTERS OF IRAQI PRIME MINISTER NURI AL-MALIKI CHANTING SLOGANS AS THEY TAKING PART IN DEMONSTRATION IN TAHRIR SQUARE IN BAGHDAD VARIOUS OF DEMONSTRATORS CARRYING BANNERS AND AL-MALIKI PICTURES DURING DEMONSTRATION DEMONSTRATORS CHANTING PRO-MALIKI SLOGANS DEMONSTRATORS CARRYING AL-MALIKI PICTURES (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MA'AN AL-MUSAWI, A DEMONSTRATOR, SAYING: "This demonstration represents the Iraq's close-knit society and it is anti-sectarianism, anti-terrorism and against the abolishment of accountability and justice law to uproot former members of Baath party. This society represent the result of struggle of opponents of Saddam's regime." DEMONSTRATORS CHANTING SLOGANS DEMONSTRATORS CHANTING PRO-MALIKI SLOGANS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MATHEL ATHAB, A DEMONSTRATOR, SAYING: "We are here to denounce the sectarianism. No, no to division and no, no sectarianism. We, Sunnis and Shiites, are brothers and we will not sell this country, we call for Iraqis to be cautious of sectarians, the politicians who seek to divide the country. " DEMONSTRATORS CARRYING MALIKI PICTURES AND CHANTING SLOGANS
  • Embargoed: 27th January 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAA0WWOSAEAG8OEJR0JMJPOBRXU
  • Story Text: Thousands of supporters of Nuri al-Maliki took to the streets in Baghdad on Saturday (January 12) following Sunni protests against the Iraq's Shi'ite prime minister.
    Three weeks of mass protests reflect deep discontent among Sunnis who say Maliki's Shi'ite-led government has marginalised their minority community.
    Concerns have been raised that Iraq may slide back into the sectarian violence of its recent past following the U.S.-led invasion that toppled former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in 2003.
    One of the demonstrators, Ma'an al-Musawi said the protesters opposed demands made by Sunni leaders and tribal sheikhs, which range from Maliki's removal to release of detainees and the suspension of an anti-terrorism law that Sunnis believe has been abused by authorities to target their sect unfairly.
    "This demonstration represents the Iraq's close-knit society ,and it is anti-sectarianism, anti-terrorism and against the abolishment of accountability and justice law to uproot former members of Baath party. This society represents the result of struggle of opponents of Saddam's regime," al Musawi said.
    Another demonstrator, Mathel Athab, was attending the protest to register his opposition to any return to sectarian fighting.
    "We are here to denounce the sectarianism. No, no to division and no, no sectarianism. We, Sunnis and Shiites, are brothers and we will not sell this country, we call for Iraqis to be cautious of sectarians, the politicians who seek to divide the country," Athab said.
    The mass Sunni protests that have been continuing for three weeks broke out in December after Finance Minister Rafaie al-Esawi's bodyguards and staff were detained on terrorism charges. Officials say it is a judicial case, but Sunni leaders saw a sustained crackdown on their sect.
    The unrest is developing into the most serious challenge yet for Maliki, a Shi'ite nationalist whom many Sunni leaders accuse of sidelining them from power-sharing, just a year after the last American troops pulled out of Iraq.
    Maliki, who spent years in exile fighting Saddam and after 2003 helped purge members of the former Sunni ruler's outlawed Baathist party, has made small concessions to the Sunni protesters, but these have failed to end the unrest.
    Sunni unrest has erupted as the war in neighbouring Syria, where mostly Sunni insurgents are battling President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Shi'ite Iran, is stirring regional tensions and testing Iraq's own fragile sectarian and ethnic balance.
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