- Title: VARIOUS: Anti-Israeli protests are held in Turkey, Iraq and Iran
- Date: 5th August 2006
- Summary: (EU) ISTANBUL, TURKEY (AUGUST 4, 2006) (REUTERS) WIDE SHOT EXTERIOR BEYAZIT MOSQUE WITH CROWD; WORSHIPPERS AT FRIDAY PRAYERS COMING OUT OF MOSQUE WITH HIZBOLLAH FLAGS
- Embargoed: 20th August 2006 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA1OV30SONFIY78XY3MFVRBPZGP
- Story Text: In cities in Turkey, Iraq and Iran, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets on Friday (August 4) to protest against the Israeli bombing of Lebanon.
In Istanbul, thousands of worshippers massed after Friday prayers to protest against Israel's offensive.
Protesters outside Istanbul`s Beyazit Mosque burnt Israel's and the United States' flag, and shouted slogans of support for the Palestinians.
Many carried banners, some reading "Hi to Hamas, Continue Resistance" and "Terrorist Israel". Others carried posters of Hizbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah.
Police took extensive security measures and the crowd dispersed peacefully after the demonstration.
In Baghdad, thousands of supporters of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, chanting "We are your soldiers" and burning the Israeli flag, massed in Baghdad on Friday (August 4) to protest against Israel's offensive in Lebanon.
Sadr had called on his supporters to converge on the city for the rally after Friday prayers in the sprawling eastern Baghdad slum of Sadr City, a stronghold for his Mehdi Army militia that has battled Iraqi and U.S. troops in recent weeks.
"With God's help, the Mehdi Army and Hizbollah will be victorious," chanted the protesters, some symbolically wearing white burial shrouds, during the peaceful demonstration.
State television said a million people had gathered for the rally, but this could not be independently confirmed. A dense sea of marchers slowly moved along al Shuhada, the slum's main street, many waving yellow Hizbollah flags and holding pictures of the Shi'ite militant group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
"Oh Allah, Oh Allah, make Hassan Nasrallah triumph," they chanted.
Iraq's Shi'ite-dominated government last month denounced Israel's "criminal" raids on Lebanon and warned that the violence could escalate across the Middle East.
Hundreds of Iranians also took to the streets, marching through Tehran's Enghelab square.
The crowd chanted "Death to Britain" and "Death to Israel".
On Thursday (August 3), Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and others from the Islamic world demanded a halt to Israeli attacks on Lebanon and Gaza.
Fighting between Israel and Hizbollah broke out on July 12, following a cross-border raid by Hizbollah during which two Israeli soldiers were captured.
As elsewhere in the Middle East, criticism of Israel, the United States' closest regional ally, is also widespread in Iraq.
Sadr, one of the most influential Shi'ite leaders in Iraq, is a key player in the new national unity government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
But many Sunnis have blamed his militias for death squad killings that fuel a worsening cycle of sectarian violence U.S. and Iraqi officials fear is pushing the country ever closer towards all-out civil war. His fighters deny the charges. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None