Spokesman: Sadr calls for mass anti-American protests on April 9

Above: Iraqis chant slogans following reading of the message at prayers in Sadr City. Sadr's statement said, "Four years on and Iraq is still without water, electricity, fuel, security, safety and, furthermore, it is in the middle of sedition... the occupier also isolated Iraq from the Arab and Muslim worlds, so much so that all foreign nations have ceased to care about an Iraq lying in ruin... I renew my call for the occupier to leave our land. The departure of the occupier will mean stability for Iraq, victory for Islam and peace and defeat for terrorism and infidels... You, oppressed people of Iraq, let the entire world hear your voice that you reject occupation, destruction and terrorism... Fly Iraqi flags atop homes, apartment buildings and government departments to show the sovereignty and independence of Iraq, and that you reject the presence of American flags and those of other nations occupying our beloved Iraq. Keep them there until they leave our land."

BAGHDAD: Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr made a scathing attack on the United States in a statement issued Friday, blaming it for Iraq's woes and calling for a mass demonstration April 9 to mark the fourth anniversary of Baghdad's fall.

The statement was the first by al-Sadr since March 14 when he called on his supporters to resist U.S. forces in Iraq through peaceful means. Al-Sadr has been said by U.S. and Iraqi officials to be in neighboring Iran. His aides insist he is still in Iraq.

The latest statement was read to worshippers during Friday prayers at a mosque in Kufa, a holy Shiite city south of Baghdad where al-Sadr frequently led the ritual. It also was read to thousands of worshippers in Baghdad's Sadr City Shiite district, a stronghold of his Mahdi Army militia.

Read the rest at the International Herald Tribune

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