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Iraqi Shiites shout anti-federalism slogans. (Reuters).
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A
hundred thousand Shiites took to the streets on Friday, August 26, to
protest provisions in the draft constitution aimed at creating a
federal Iraq -- a step many fear could lead to permanent division.
Supporters
of young Shiite firebrand Moqtada Al-Sadr, who has staged two
uprisings against US occupation troops, marched in eight cities,
including 30,000 people who gathered for a sermon delivered on his
behalf in a Baghdad district, Reuters reported.
Sadr
has come out in support of Sunni opposition to the federal state that
his Shiite rivals in government, with their Kurdish allies, have
outlined in the charter.
"Bush
and America out," yelled scholar Abdel-Zahra Al-Suwaidid, reading
a statement on Sadr's behalf in Sadr City, in south Baghdad, which is
named after his revered father.
"Iraqis
should write the constitution, not the Americans," he said.
Another
widespread complaint was written simply on banners: "We want
water, we want electricity."
Young
boys wore T-shirts with images of Sadr and his father as others played
a song on a scratchy cassette which repeated "Oh Moqtada, Oh
Moqtada" over and over.
Fighters
in Sadr's Mehdi Army stood alert on rooftops with assault rifles as
speakers condemned the United States.
Sadr
entered into a bloody confrontation with Shiite Badr movement, a
military arm of the SCIRI which some Iraqis accuse of operating in hit
squads alongside government forces.
Sadr's
supporters say Badr militiamen attacked his office in Najaf on
Wednesday, August 24, and clashes then erupted in several cities,
killing at least eight people.
Prisoners
Release
In
a move seen linked to a Sunni demand to break the constitution
standoff, US occupation authorities announced Saturday they had freed
1,000 detainees from the notorious Abu Ghraib prison, the largest
release to date.
The
US army said the decision came at the request of the Baghdad
government.
"This
major release, the largest to date, marks a significant event in
Iraq's progress toward democratic governance and the rule of law,
demonstrating the involvement of Iraq's government in the effort to
provide both security and justice for all Iraqis," said a US
military statement.
"I
know this is a big one, but I can't say if it is related to anything
that is going on," US military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel
Steven Boylan told Reuters when asked whether it had to do with the
constitution talks.
A
US specialist triggered
the Abu Ghraib scandal in 2004 when he turned over to military
investigators extensive photographic and video evidence implicating
his fellow military policemen in brutal abuse of prisoners.
The
pictures showed detainees piled up naked on the floor, cowering in
front of snarling military dogs, chained to beds in stress positions,
with women's underwear put over their heads, and forced to stand naked
in front of female guards.
But
so far, only a fraction of pictures made by Specialist Darby have been
released to the public.
