Iraqi Shiites protest against Chalabi
NASIRIYAH, Iraq, (AFP) - Dozens of Shiite Muslims in the heart of this tense southern city staged Tuesday an angry protest against Iraqi opposition leader Ahmed Chalabi.
"No, no Chalabi," about 150 protesters chanted as US troops tried to clear a lane of at least three vehicles near Haboby Square, a gathering point with markets and a bus station close by.
The US soldiers were on the verge of using tear gas as the protesters grew increasingly agitated and closed around the vehicles to prevent them from leaving, but the troops finally pulled back as the tension eased.
"He (Chalabi) knows nothing about here," one of the protesters, Muhsin Fiadh, told AFP.
"He came with America to control our country. We don't know Chalabi. We want someone who knows us."
Chalabi is a wealthy Shiite Muslim who lived in exile during Saddam's reign and heads the umbrella Iraqi National Congress.
He recently returned to Iraq and set up on the outskirts of Nasiriyah, drawing a high profile because of strong backing from sections of the US government to be the nation's next president.
Muhsin said the protesters wanted to be governed by the premier Shiite school of Islamic leaders in Najaf, the Hawza.
The protest echoed a much larger rally earlier in the day through Nasiriyah which was attended by up to 20,000 people, journalists estimated.
However other people in Nasiriyah said the political process was being hijacked by Islamic groups who did not really want democracy, with some agitators coming from neighbouring countries.
"There are strangers who come from outside the country and want to make violence," Amer Al Obidi, who is the president of a small political movement calling itself the Liberal Democratic Party, said just metres from the anti-Chalabi protest.
"They want to blacken the name of Mr Chalabi."
The rallies appeared to have been ignited by a US-sponsored meeting of Iraqi opposition groups at a secured airbase less than 10 kilometres (six miles) from Nasiriyah.
NASIRIYAH, Iraq, (AFP) - Dozens of Shiite Muslims in the heart of this tense southern city staged Tuesday an angry protest against Iraqi opposition leader Ahmed Chalabi.
"No, no Chalabi," about 150 protesters chanted as US troops tried to clear a lane of at least three vehicles near Haboby Square, a gathering point with markets and a bus station close by.
The US soldiers were on the verge of using tear gas as the protesters grew increasingly agitated and closed around the vehicles to prevent them from leaving, but the troops finally pulled back as the tension eased.
"He (Chalabi) knows nothing about here," one of the protesters, Muhsin Fiadh, told AFP.
"He came with America to control our country. We don't know Chalabi. We want someone who knows us."
Chalabi is a wealthy Shiite Muslim who lived in exile during Saddam's reign and heads the umbrella Iraqi National Congress.
He recently returned to Iraq and set up on the outskirts of Nasiriyah, drawing a high profile because of strong backing from sections of the US government to be the nation's next president.
Muhsin said the protesters wanted to be governed by the premier Shiite school of Islamic leaders in Najaf, the Hawza.
The protest echoed a much larger rally earlier in the day through Nasiriyah which was attended by up to 20,000 people, journalists estimated.
However other people in Nasiriyah said the political process was being hijacked by Islamic groups who did not really want democracy, with some agitators coming from neighbouring countries.
"There are strangers who come from outside the country and want to make violence," Amer Al Obidi, who is the president of a small political movement calling itself the Liberal Democratic Party, said just metres from the anti-Chalabi protest.
"They want to blacken the name of Mr Chalabi."
The rallies appeared to have been ignited by a US-sponsored meeting of Iraqi opposition groups at a secured airbase less than 10 kilometres (six miles) from Nasiriyah.
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