A rather stunning development in Najaf, Iraq, where 1000 protesters marched to demand the government investigate the stunning brutality of religious courts set up in that city by Mucky al-Sadr during his confrontation at The Big Shrine last month.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,131978,00.html
On Friday, about 1,000 protesters marched through Najaf's old quarter Friday to demand that the Iraqi government investigate the court and punish those in charge of it. They also demanded that al-Sadr leave Najaf (search).
Chanting, "Muqtada, the trash, is a leader of looters," the demonstrators walked past buildings hit by three weeks of fighting and insisted that al-Sadr's office be shut down. Iraqi soldiers kept the protesters from marching to al-Sadr's office.
Sheik Ali Smeisim, an aide to al-Sadr, said the demonstration was an attempt to create tension.
"We were expecting such things," he said. "Whenever there is a chance for peaceful solutions, some people hold protests to escalate the situation."
Unbelieveable hypocrisy in that statement from the al-Sadr spokesman.
This goes to a modest debate in another thread - if elections are held in Iraq, how popular would these brutal religious leaders be on a free ballot?
Cowperson
