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Baquba, Iraq (AFP) March 18, 2011 More than 5,000 Iraqis rallied Friday in northern Diyala province to denounce a crackdown on Shiite-led demonstrators in Bahrain, with many volunteering to join the protests in the Gulf kingdom. The biggest turnout was about 3,000 protesters in the city of Jadidat al-Shat, with another 2,000 in Khales and some 500 in the provincial capital of Baquba. "Thousands of volunteers are asking the Iraqi government to open the way for them to go to Bahrain to support their brothers there," said Fadel Mohammed Saeed, a religious leader in Jadidat al-Shat, which has a large Shiite population. Diyala province is predominantly Sunni, but with a large Shiite minority. In Baquba, demonstrators converged outside the provincial council building in the capital's centre, demanding that outside forces leave Bahrain, and calling on Arab governments to stand beside the people of Bahrain. "We are ready to volunteer to defend the soil of Bahrain," read a banner carried by demonstrators in Baquba. Five people were killed Wednesday when security forces crushed a month-old pro-democracy sit-in at Manama's Pearl Square, after a Saudi-led force of about 1,000 troops entered the Sunni-ruled Gulf state to help restore security. "Bahrain is free, free, Gulf forces out, out," demonstrators chanted in Baquba, many of them carrying Bahraini flags. Shiites around the Middle East have denounced the crackdown, with nationwide protests called in Iraq on Friday by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Several hundred protesters also were gathering at Baghdad's Tahrir Square for protests after weekly Friday prayers. In the holy city of Najaf in central Iraq, the spiritual guide of the Shiite sect, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, suspended religious classes for the day in solidarity with the people of Bahrain, a source in his office said. str-sf-mar-afq/dv
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11 troops killed in suicide blast at Iraq army baseKanaan, Iraq (AFP) March 14, 2011 A suicide attacker rammed a truck packed with explosives into an army barracks in Iraq's restive Diyala province Monday, killing at least 11 troops and wounding 14, a security official said. The attack took place at around 6:00 am (0300 GMT) at an army base at Kanaan, some 70 kilometres (43 miles) northeast of Baghdad, the official said. "At least 11 soldiers died and 14 others were woun ... read more |
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