Ramadi, Iraq: Witnesses say thousands of demonstrators have gathered in the city of Ramadi, in the Sunni Muslim-dominated Iraqi province of Anbar west of the capital to voice their opposition to the Shiite-led government.
The protesters massed Wednesday along a highway linking Baghdad with neighbouring Jordan and Syria. They held banners demanding that Sunnis’ rights be respected and calling for the release of Sunni prisoners in Iraqi jails.
It is the third major protest in Anbar province in less than a week.
On Friday, Iraq’s government said it had arrested 10 of Finance Minister Rafia Al Issawi’s bodyguards on terrorism-related charges. Al Issawi comes from Anbar and is one of the government’s most senior Sunni officials. The case is exacerbating tensions with Iraq’s Sunnis, who accuse Shiite Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki of targeting and marginalising them.
