Iraqis protest outside green zone for security
ap: About 200 Shiites, many of them women in full-length black abayas, rallied Monday outside the Green Zone to demand that U.S. and Iraqi forces do more to stop attacks on Iraqis.
Some protesters waved large banners with slogans demanding better care for families displaced by sectarian violence. One weeping woman held up the ID card of her husband, saying he was killed in a drive-by shooting.
Two Iraqi men - a soldier and a civilian — emerged from the fortified Green Zone, home of the U.S. Embassy and the Iraqi government, to meet with the protesters and take notes about their demands.
Such demonstrations are rare in Baghdad because of fears large groups might attract suicide bombers.
In the latest violence, four people were killed Monday when a bomb exploded in a market in Madain, a mostly Shiite town 14 miles southeast of Baghdad, police said. Two people were wounded.
At least 15 bullet-riddled bodies were found in the capital, the Interior Ministry said. The victims were men aged 20-40 years; all were handcuffed and blindfolded, the ministry said.
In addition, two people were killed Monday in drive-by shootings in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad, police said. They included a former general in
Saddam Hussein's army.
U.S. officials hope the new Iraqi government, expected to be finalized this month, will be able to calm sectarian tensions and lure many Sunni Arabs away from the insurgency so U.S. and other international troops can begin heading home.
President Jalal Talabani was quoted by his office as saying Sunday that he had met with representatives of seven armed groups and was optimistic they would agree to lay down their arms.
However, an official in Talabani's office said Monday the president did not meet with the groups and that his security adviser, Lt. Gen. Wafiq al-Sammaraie, made the contacts.
Another Kurdish politician, Mahmoud Othman, also said Talabani had not met with any insurgent representatives but that al-Sammaraie was in contact with undisclosed groups not linked to Saddam Hussein loyalists or al-Qaida in Iraq. Link
Some protesters waved large banners with slogans demanding better care for families displaced by sectarian violence. One weeping woman held up the ID card of her husband, saying he was killed in a drive-by shooting.
Two Iraqi men - a soldier and a civilian — emerged from the fortified Green Zone, home of the U.S. Embassy and the Iraqi government, to meet with the protesters and take notes about their demands.
Such demonstrations are rare in Baghdad because of fears large groups might attract suicide bombers.
In the latest violence, four people were killed Monday when a bomb exploded in a market in Madain, a mostly Shiite town 14 miles southeast of Baghdad, police said. Two people were wounded.
At least 15 bullet-riddled bodies were found in the capital, the Interior Ministry said. The victims were men aged 20-40 years; all were handcuffed and blindfolded, the ministry said.
In addition, two people were killed Monday in drive-by shootings in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad, police said. They included a former general in
Saddam Hussein's army.
U.S. officials hope the new Iraqi government, expected to be finalized this month, will be able to calm sectarian tensions and lure many Sunni Arabs away from the insurgency so U.S. and other international troops can begin heading home.
President Jalal Talabani was quoted by his office as saying Sunday that he had met with representatives of seven armed groups and was optimistic they would agree to lay down their arms.
However, an official in Talabani's office said Monday the president did not meet with the groups and that his security adviser, Lt. Gen. Wafiq al-Sammaraie, made the contacts.
Another Kurdish politician, Mahmoud Othman, also said Talabani had not met with any insurgent representatives but that al-Sammaraie was in contact with undisclosed groups not linked to Saddam Hussein loyalists or al-Qaida in Iraq. Link
posted by exoplanet at 9:17 PM
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