BAGHDAD, Iraq - Tens of thousands of Shiites, some burning U.S. flags and chanting ``Death to Israel,'' thronged a Baghdad slum in support of Hezbollah on Friday as protests surged against the Lebanon fighting in several Mideast nations.
In the most violent demonstration, about 100 people threw stones and a firebomb at the British Embassy in Tehran, damaging the building but harming nobody as they accused Britain and the United States of being accomplices in Israel's fight against Hezbollah, a Shiite group in Lebanon that is backed by Iran.
Even Sunni Muslim demonstrators took to the streets of Damascus, Cairo and Amman. But their numbers were dwarfed by the huge Shiite turnout in Baghdad, organized by fundamentalist cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Crowds of Sadr supporters from across Iraq's Shiite heartland converged on the capital's Sadr City district, chanting ``Death to Israel, Death to America'' in the biggest pro-Hezbollah rally since the conflict began July 12.
Demonstrators, wearing white shrouds symbolizing willingness to die for Hezbollah, waved the guerrillas' banner and chanted slogans in support of their leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah.
No comments:
Post a Comment