- Title: IRAQ: KERBALAREMAINS TENSE AFTER CLASHES BETWEEN U.S. TROOPS AND SHI'ITE LEADERS
- Date: 18th October 2003
- Summary: (EU) KERBALA, IRAQ (OCTOBER 18, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. VARIOUS OF U.S. TROOPS SEALING OFF ROADS AROUND THE HOME AND OFFICE OF IRAQI SHI'ITE CLERIC SAYYIED MAHMOUD AL-HASSANI, WOMAN DRESSED IN BLACK WALKING PAST COLUMN OF HUMVEE (2 SHOTS) 0.14 2. VEHICLES STOPPING, TROOPS GETTING OUT 0.34 3. SOLDIERS WITH MACHINE GUNS IN STREETS (3 SHOTS) 0.51 4. SCU/CU: TANK TAKING UP POSITION (2 SHOTS) 1.06 5. SLV: U.S HUMVEES DRIVING IN BUSY STREET 1.10 6. WOMAN AND CHILDREN WALKING IN STREET 1.16 7. CU/SV: EXTERIOR OFFICE, U.S SOLDIERS AT GATE (2 SHOTS) 1.26 8. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SHEIKH KAZEM AL-NASSERI, SPOKESMAN FOR SHI'ITE CLERIC MOQTADA AL-SADR IN KERBALA, SAYING: "I call on the occupation forces, I urge them to give special treatment to Kerbala and Najaf, because if something happens, God forbid, if anything happens to the holy sites of Kerbala and Najaf, then not only will the Iraqi people rise against them, but Shi'ites all over the world. They should know that Kerbala and Najaf are centers for the Shi'ites in the world." 2.01 9. MORE OF SOLDIERS AROUND KERBALA 2.07 (EU) BAGHDAD, IRAQ (OCTOBER 18, 2003) (REUTERS) 10. WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE 2.11 11. (SOUNDBITE) (English) LIEUTENANT COLONEL GEORGE KRIVO, SAYING: ++ AUDIO AS INCOMING ++ "With respect to events in Kerbala We have no evidence to suggest that al Sadr was directly involved in those incidents." 2.23 12. REPORTERS AT NEWS CONFERENCE 2.26 13. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHARLES HEATLEY, COALITION PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY SPOKESMAN, SAYING: ++ AUDIO AS INCOMING ++ "There have been some very serious allegations made about the group and some responsibiliy attached to their leader, and these are still under investigation. One group of people claiming loyalty to Moqtada al Sadr did take over as we discussed before the district of Basra council in Sadr City. They were removed from that hall and they are under arrest." 2.56 14. WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE 3.02 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 2nd November 2003 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Iraq
- Country: Iraq
- Reuters ID: LVA9HX9KGZBINFUYJ06N4C0PY30O
- Story Text: Kerbala tense after clashed between U.S. troops and
Shi'ite leaders.
U.S. troops on Saturday (October 18) sealed off
roads around the office and house of an Iraqi Shi'ite
Muslim cleric whose followers the U.S. military has blamed
for starting a shootout which killed three American
soldiers.
Soldiers surrounded buildings in Iraq's holy Shi'ite
city of Kerbala used by cleric Sayyid Mahmoud al-Hassani
with armoured vehicles, tanks, while helicopters circled
overhead.
Three U.S. military police and two Iraqi police were
killed on Thursday night (October 16) in fighting in the
city. The U.S. military said the shootout was started by
supporters of Hassani, himself a sympathiser of radical
Shi'ite leader Moqtada al-Sadr who opposes the U.S.-led
occupation of Iraq.
U.S. officers would not comment on whether they were
hoping to arrest Hassani. His supporters said he had left
his home after Thursday's shooting in which local people
said eight of his followers had been killed.
A spokesman for al-Sadr warned U.S. troops to stay out
of the holy cities of Kerbala and Najaf.
"I call on the occupation forces, I urge them to give
special treatment to Kerbala and Najaf, because if
something happens, God forbid, if anything happens to the
holy sites of Kerbala and Najaf, then not only will the
Iraqi people rise against them, but Shi'ites all over the
world. They should know that Kerbala and Najaf are centers
for the Shi'ites in the world," said Sheikh Kazem
al-Nasseri.
Shi'ites are in the majority in Iraq and were repressed
by Saddam Hussein, a Sunni. Moderate Shi'ite leaders have
advocated cautious cooperation with Iraq's occupying forces
in the hope of securing power in a future government.
Most attacks on U.S. forces have occurred in the
so-called "Sunni Triangle" north and west of Baghdad, but
Thursday's attack in the Shi'ite city 90 kms (55 miles)
south of the capital showed increasing anti-American
sentiment among the young followers of radical Shi'ite
clerics.
In Baghdad, Lieutenant Colonel George Krivo said U.S.
forces did not have any evidence al-Sadr was directly
involved in the Kerlaba attacks.
"With respect to events in Kerbala We have no evidence
to suggest that al Sadr was directly involved in those
incidents," Krovo told journalists.
Charles Heatley, Coalition Provisional Authority
spokesman, said al-Sadr's group was under investigation.
Thousands of Shi'ites staged pro-Sadr rallies in
Baghdad's Sadr City area, named after Sadr's assassinated
father on Friday.
"There have been some very serious allegations made
about the group and some responsibiliy attached to their
leader, and these are still under investigation. One group
of people claiming loyalty to Moqtada al Sadr did take over
as we discussed before the district of Basra council in
Sadr City. They were removed from that hall and they are
under arrest."
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