Region | Iraq
Iraqi Shiites protest against PM
Tens of thousands of Shiites in Iraq took to the streets to protest the government's crackdown against militias in Basra, as heavy fighting between security forces and gunmen continued for a third day.
- Agencies
- Published: 15:41 March 27, 2008
- Image Credit: AP
- Demonstrators pledged their support for Muqtada Al Sadr.
Baghdad: Tens of thousands of Shiites in Iraq took to the streets to protest the government's crackdown against militias in Basra, as heavy fighting between security forces and gunmen continued for a third day.
There has been increasing anger directed against Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, himself a Shiite, who has been orchestrating a military operation against Shiite militias dominated by radical cleric Muqtada Al Sadr, amid a violent power struggle in Basra.
Demonstrators in Baghdad called Al Maliki the “new dictator'' and carried a coffin bearing his picture. People also gathered in Sadr City chanting slogans against the government.
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