The Hindu : Front Page : 28 killed as Spanish troops clash with Shia protesters in Iraq

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Monday, Apr 05, 2004

Front Page

Front Page

28 killed as Spanish troops clash with Shia protesters in Iraq

By Atul Aneja

MANAMA, APRIL 4. Spanish troops clashed with Shia demonstrators loyal to Muqtada Al-Sadr, a leading Iraqi cleric, in Najaf on Sunday, leaving at least 28 people dead and 200 wounded.

The dead included four Salvadoran soldiers, who were under Spanish command as part of a brigade that includes forces from Central America. Nine other Salvadorans were injured in the clash.

Spanish troops opened fire on protesters heading towards their base in Kufa near Najaf, witnesses said.

It was, however, not yet clear as to what led to the clash. According to one report, the Spanish contingent opened fire, using machineguns, after demonstrators threw stones and tried to enter its base.

But a spokesman was quoted as saying that protesters had shot at the troops around noon (local time).

He added that an Iraqi building also came under attack. Hospital authorities in Najaf said the toll could rise as casualties were still being brought in.

Al-Sadr's supporters accused Spanish authorities of arresting Mustafa-al-Yaqoubi, the cleric's deputy, leading to widespread unrest.

The U.S. administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, said protesters had "crossed the line and moved to violence."

The collision with the troops caps a spate of Shia demonstrations sparked by the closure by American authorities last Sunday of Al Hawza, a popular newspaper reportedly run by Al-Sadr's group.

Al-Sadr, who has been steering these demonstrations, has said that the stirring in Iraq is part of a larger struggle against the occupation in the region, where the U.S., in the case of Iraq, and Israel, in the case of Palestinian territories, are the occupiers.

On Saturday, members of the Mehdi Army, Al Sadr's militia marched through Sadr city, a Shia stronghold in Baghdad and burnt an American and an Israeli flag.

In his Friday sermon, Al-Sadr declared that his group would render active support to two of Israel's biggest enemies — the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Lebanon-based Hizbollah.

The first indication that Iraqi Shias saw inter-linkages between the American occupation of Iraq and the Israeli hold over the Palestinian territories came soon after the assassination by Israel of the Hamas leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, last month.

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