Iraqis Hit Back U.S. Troops
| Tweet |
|
Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been down to the streets in the capital Baghdad to protest the presence of U.S. forces in the war-torn country.
Slogans chanted anti-US and called for unity in Iraq, Iraqi demonstrators on Saturday urged the "immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces" from the war-torn country, a news Press TV correspondent reported.
The protests came after U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday that the United States would maintain troops in Iraq after the withdrawal date agreed at the end of 2011 if the Iraqi government asked for additional assistance.
People of Iraq Muqtada al-Sadr asked on Saturday that their supporters to continue resistance against U.S. forces if their troops do not leave the Middle Eastern country that at the end of the year.
"If America does not leave Iraq on time, we will increase endurance and resumption of the Mahdi Army," Sadr said in a statement read by spokesman for the thousands of Iraqi demonstrators in Baghdad on the same day.
"Get out, get out America," spokesman Salah al-Obeidi repeatedly warned, speaking at the memorial to the eight overthrow Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and Baghdad fell to US-led forces.
Sadr, who said it was 30 years old, getting wide popularity among the Shia in Iraq in the months after the US-led invasion in 2003 and in 2004 his Mahdi Army militia fighting U.S. forces in two bloody conflicts.
He was identified by the Pentagon in 2006 as the biggest threat to stability in Iraq.
But in August 2008, Sadr suspended the activities of his Mahdi Army, which once numbered tens of thousands, after the attack the United States and Iraq in his castle in Baghdad and southern Iraq in the spring.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh also said on Friday that Baghdad does not want the United States to maintain troops in war-torn country until more than 2011.
"Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told Defense Secretary Robert Gates yesterday stated that the Iraqi government opposes the presence of U.S. troops or any other foreign troops on Iraqi territory," said Dabbagh.
2008 security agreement between Baghdad and Washington mandates the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq before 2012.
United States completed the military operation in that country during the summer of 2009 and withdraw combat units. Most U.S. troops scheduled to leave Iraq in the summer of 2011.
According to the Associated Press, about 47,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq, down from a peak of more than 170,000.
At least 4443 Iraqis have so far been killed in Iraq since the US-led invasion in the Middle East country in 2003.
Nearly 50,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, down from the previous amount of more than 170,000 after the invasion, and a full withdrawal before planned at the end of this year.
Slogans chanted anti-US and called for unity in Iraq, Iraqi demonstrators on Saturday urged the "immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces" from the war-torn country, a news Press TV correspondent reported.
The protests came after U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday that the United States would maintain troops in Iraq after the withdrawal date agreed at the end of 2011 if the Iraqi government asked for additional assistance.
People of Iraq Muqtada al-Sadr asked on Saturday that their supporters to continue resistance against U.S. forces if their troops do not leave the Middle Eastern country that at the end of the year.
"If America does not leave Iraq on time, we will increase endurance and resumption of the Mahdi Army," Sadr said in a statement read by spokesman for the thousands of Iraqi demonstrators in Baghdad on the same day.
"Get out, get out America," spokesman Salah al-Obeidi repeatedly warned, speaking at the memorial to the eight overthrow Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and Baghdad fell to US-led forces.
Sadr, who said it was 30 years old, getting wide popularity among the Shia in Iraq in the months after the US-led invasion in 2003 and in 2004 his Mahdi Army militia fighting U.S. forces in two bloody conflicts.
He was identified by the Pentagon in 2006 as the biggest threat to stability in Iraq.
But in August 2008, Sadr suspended the activities of his Mahdi Army, which once numbered tens of thousands, after the attack the United States and Iraq in his castle in Baghdad and southern Iraq in the spring.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh also said on Friday that Baghdad does not want the United States to maintain troops in war-torn country until more than 2011.
"Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told Defense Secretary Robert Gates yesterday stated that the Iraqi government opposes the presence of U.S. troops or any other foreign troops on Iraqi territory," said Dabbagh.
2008 security agreement between Baghdad and Washington mandates the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq before 2012.
United States completed the military operation in that country during the summer of 2009 and withdraw combat units. Most U.S. troops scheduled to leave Iraq in the summer of 2011.
According to the Associated Press, about 47,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq, down from a peak of more than 170,000.
At least 4443 Iraqis have so far been killed in Iraq since the US-led invasion in the Middle East country in 2003.
Nearly 50,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, down from the previous amount of more than 170,000 after the invasion, and a full withdrawal before planned at the end of this year.
Source : Sm
Posted by Anggo82
on Monday, April 11, 2011. Filed under
International,
News
.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
Feel free to leave a response