Shiites stage 'peaceful sit-in'

2004-04-05 10:53

Basra, Iraq - Followers of the radical Iraqi Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr took over the governor's office in the British-controlled port city of Basra early on Monday.

Dozens of armed Mehdi Army militiamen stormed the governor's office in the southern city at dawn, raising a green flag on the roof of the building, according to a journalist who witnessed the event.

Militiamen, holding assault-rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, were seen deployed inside and on the rooftop of the governor's office, alongside policemen who had been inside the building when it was taken over.

"Moqtada, Moqtada," many of them chanted.

Sheikh Sattar al-Bahadli, the head of Sadr's office in Basra, said that the militants had handed over a letter with their demands to a convoy of British troops which had briefly passed by.

Five hours later, there were no British troops in the area.

Drop of blood

"We are holding a 100 percent peaceful sit-in at the governor's office and we want to make sure that not a single drop of blood is spilled," said Bahadli.

"We came in and informed the police that we wanted to hold a sit-in inside the building, and they cooperated with us," he said.

He said the protest would continue until the US-led coalition fulfills their demands for the reopening of their Hawza newspaper, the end of sieges of Sadr offices and the release of all Sadr followers, including Sheikh Mustapha Yaacubi.

On Sunday, Sadr supporters seized a number of police stations and other public buildings in several Iraqi cities, including a major suburb of Baghdad, during a day of violent clashes with US-led coalition troops that left more than 40 Iraqis and up to nine coalition soldiers dead.

- AFP