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Iraqis protest closure of newspaper
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-04-01 11:15 At least 10,000 supporters of a radical Shiite
cleric rallied Wednesday outside the headquarters of the U.S.-led coalition in a
protest against the closure of their weekly newspaper, accused by the top
American official in Iraq of inciting violence against coalition troops.
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Tens of thousands or Iraqis pray after
taking to the streets of Baghdad Wednesday March 31, 2004, to protest the
U.S.-led coalition shut down of a weekly newspaper, Al-Hawza.
[AP]
| The chief U.S. administrator in Iraq,
L. Paul Bremer, ordered Al-Hawza closed for two months on Sunday because its
articles "form a serious threat of violence" against coalition forces and Iraqi
citizens working with them. Al-Hawza's managing editor dismissed the accusation
and said political motives were behind Bremer's decision.
"Free al-Hawza newspaper from its captivity," declared one banner hoisted by
protesters, many of whom carried portraits of their leader, Muqtada al-Sadr, or
waved black and green flags.
Some protesters wore white shrouds, a symbol of martyrdom. Black-clad members
of al-Mahdi Army, a militia set up by al-Sadr last year, marched in a military
step.
"No, no to Bush. No, no to Bremer. Yes, yes to Muqtada," chanted the
protesters, mostly young men in their teens and early 20s and 30s.
The coalition has defended the decision to close down al-Hawza, one of at
least 200 publications that have sprung up since Saddam's ouster nearly a year
ago. It said that while it supported a free press, it would not tolerate
material that foments violence against American or other coalition
troops.
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