IRAQ: Moqtada al-Sadr, head of a powerful Shi'ite movement in Iraq, voices support for Sunni anti-government protesters and warns of an 'Iraqi Spring'

Record ID: 860728

  • Title: IRAQ: Moqtada al-Sadr, head of a powerful Shi'ite movement in Iraq, voices support for Sunni anti-government protesters and warns of an 'Iraqi Spring'
  • Date: 1st January 2013
  • Summary: NAJAF, IRAQ (JANUARY 1, 2013) (REUTERS) **CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY** SHI'ITE CLERIC, MOQTADA AL-SADR, ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SHI'ITE CLERIC MOQTADA AL-SADR ,SAYING: "The protest in this province and in other provinces will continue as long as the politicians follow a policy that serves their own interests. They (politicians) should work for their people, not for their own interests. The people have to call for their rights. I said earlier, the Arab spring is coming, and Iraq's spring will come too." CAMERAMEN (SOUNDBITE) (ARABIC) SHI'ITE CLERIC, MOQTADA AL-SADR, SAYING: "If their demands are real, and they keep themselves away from sectarianism and dictatorship, in particular, the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, I will support them." CAMERAMEN END OF NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 16th January 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • City:
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA537F0ZMO2N6CVF9ZPLSLGNQE5
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  • Story Text: Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, head of a powerful Shi'ite movement in Iraq, on Tuesday (January 1) voiced his support for Sunni anti-government protesters, and warned of an 'Iraqi Spring.
    More than 1,000 people protested in the city of Samarra on Monday (December 31) and rallies continued in Ramadi, centre of the protests, and in Mosul, where about 500 people took to the streets.
    In the city of Falluja protesters have staged large rallies and blocked a major highway over the past week.
    Protesters are demanding an end to what they see as the marginalisation of Sunnis, who dominated the country until the U.S.-led invasion. They want Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to abolish anti-terrorism laws they say are used to persecute them.
    Sadr told a news conference in home town in Najaf, southern Iraq that the protests would continue.

    "The protest in this province and in other provinces will continue as long as the politicians follow a policy that serves their own interests. They should work for their people, not for their own interests. People have to call for their rights. I said before -- the Arab spring is coming, and Iraq's spring will come too."
    Sadr led uprisings against the U.S. presence before American forces withdrew in December 2011 and is an influential player in the government after his bloc's support of Maliki helped secure his position.
    He called upon protesters to not indulge in sectarianism.

    "If their demands are real, and they keep themselves away from sectarianism and dictatorship, in particular, the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, I will support them," he said, referring to remnants of the former prime minister's regime.
    On Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq, himself a Sunni, was forced to flee a protest in Ramadi when demonstrators pelted him with stones and bottles.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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