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Iraqi Sunnis, Shiites protest police raids
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-02 21:52
Hundreds of Shiite and Sunni Muslims prayed together Friday then staged a
joint demonstration in central Baghdad to denounce military and police raids and
widespread arrests of suspected insurgents. The show of unity comes ahead of
potentially divisive parliamentary elections.
Men waved Iraqi flags and women dressed in black robes carried posters of
their missing sons. Some protesters held up portraits of Sunni clerics who have
been killed since the U.S. invasion in 2003.
Shiites make up the majority in Iraq, but were oppressed by former ruler
Saddam Hussein, who is a Sunni. Since Saddam's overthrow, Shiites have
controlled most of the political power in Iraq, while the anti-U.S. insurgency
has been dominated by Sunnis.
Sunni suicide bombers have targeted Shiite mosques and gatherings.
And Sunni leaders have complained of attacks by Shiite death squads tied to
the government. Last month, U.S. troops discovered an interior ministry jail
with 173 detainees, some showing signs of torture.
The ministry is "killing our sons at the orders of the (Iranians)," one
poster read, referring to alleged ties between Interior Minister Bayn Jabr and
Iran. Another poster referred to Jabr as an American agent.
In Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, the U.S. military played down reports by
residents and police of widespread attacks Thursday against American and Iraqi
targets in the city. The military said only one rocket-propelled grenade was
fired at an observation post, causing no casualties. Insurgents left behind
posters and graffiti saying they were members of al-Qaida in Iraq.
Also Thursday, the U.S. command in Iraq said there were 23 suicide bombings
in November, the lowest number in seven months. They attributed the drop to the
success of U.S.-Iraqi military operations against insurgent and foreign fighter
sanctuaries near the Syrian border.
But still, 85 U.S. troops died during the month, one of the highest tolls
since the invasion.
Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, a coalition operations officer, warned that al-Qaida in
Iraq, led by Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, would probably
step up attacks in the next two weeks to try to disrupt parliamentary elections
Dec. 15.
Lynch said car bombings detonated remotely declined to 68 in November from
130 in February. However, suicide attacks have not consistently decreased over
the past year. After more than 70 such attacks in May, the number fell in August
by nearly half and then climbed to over 50 two months later.
And despite the decline over the past month, there has been no letup in the
relentless toll of American deaths at a time of growing discontent in the United
States over the Iraq war.
The U.S. command said Thursday that four American service members were killed
the day before, three of them from hostile action and the fourth in a traffic
accident. The deaths raised the American fatality toll for November to at least
85.
That was down from the 96 American deaths suffered in October åK½ï¿½ the fourth
deadliest month since the war began in March 2003. But it was well above the 49
deaths in September. U.S. monthly death tolls have hit 80 or above during 10 of
the 33 months of the war.
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