it must make sense to Mr Chalabi/Telegraph repost

Thousands join Baghdad protests
By David Blair in Baghdad
(Filed: 19/04/2003)

To chants of "No to America, we want an Islamic state", tens of thousands of demonstrators flooded the streets of Baghdad yesterday, demanding the immediate withdrawal of US forces.

The protests began after Friday prayers and were the largest demonstrations since Saddam Hussein's regime was toppled 10 days ago.

The protests came as Kurdish forces in the north handed over to US forces a senior Ba'athist, Samir al-Aziz al-Najim, the fourth of the top 55 most wanted leaders of Saddam's regime to be captured.
 

Iraqi Muslims demonstrate against US and British occupation

Fundamentalist Islamic clerics are making no secret of their belief that the Iraq that emerges from Saddam's shadow should be a hardline Islamic state.

Ahmed al-Kubaisi, a radical preacher, told worshippers yesterday that America had invaded Iraq to serve the interests of Israel.

His followers streamed out of his mosque carrying banners reading "No to America" and "No to Secular State. Yes to Islamic State". Another banner was addressed directly to American forces: "Leave our country, we want peace".

About 60 per cent of Iraqis are Shia Muslims, a faith viewed with deep suspicion by Saddam's Sunni-dominated regime. Mr al-Kubaisi told the throng: "Saddam betrayed his people and ignored them and escaped."

Yet the demonstrations showed that hatred for Saddam does not necessarily translate into support for America's presence in Iraq. Moreover, the Shia clergy are making increasingly determined moves to fill the country's power vacuum.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Chalabi, leader of the Iraqi National Congress and the Pentagon's favoured candidate for the country's presidency, made his first public statement since returning to Baghdad on Thursday after 45 years in exile.

He said an Iraqi interim authority could begin to run the country "in weeks rather than months".

Mr Chalabi echoed criticisms made by senior figures in the US administration, saying the UN lacked the "credibility" to play a major role in the rebuilding of Iraq.