BAGHDAD — Firebrand Iraqi leader Moqtada Sadr calls for a “million-strong march” against the presence of US troops in Iraq, days after parliament voted for their departure following Washington’s killing of an Iranian general in a Baghdad drone strike.
“The skies, land and sovereignty of Iraq are being violated every day by occupying forces,” the Shiite cleric turned populist politician writes on Twitter.
He urges Iraqis to hold “a million-strong, peaceful, unified demonstration to condemn the American presence and its violations,” without giving a date.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, left, Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, center, and commander of the Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, right, attend a mourning ceremony commemorating Ashoura, the death anniversary of Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad, in Tehran, Iran, September 10, 2019. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
Washington on January 3 killed Iranian general and Quds Force chief Qassem Soleimani in a strike that also killed a senior Iraqi paramilitary commander.
The Iraqi parliament responded by voting on January 5 to oust foreign forces — including some 5,200 American troops — who have been backing the fight against Islamic State jihadists since 2014.
Soleimani’s killing also came weeks into mass anti-government demonstrations in Baghdad and the country’s south, condemning politicians seen as corrupt, inept and under the sway of both the US and Iran.
The rallies have persisted throughout but shifted to include calls for Iraq to be spared any conflict between Iran and the US.
— AFP
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