Iraqi Shi'ites march, denounce continuing US presence

3.00pm

KERBALA - Hundreds of thousands of Shi'ite Muslims thronged the holy city of Kerbala in a pilgrimage marked by religious fervour and slogans denouncing the continuing presence of US troops in Iraq.

France, a prominent opponent of the US-led war in Iraq, on Tuesday unexpectedly proposed the immediate suspension of economic sanctions against Baghdad, but said the UN-administered "oil-for-food" programme should continue.

Anti-American chants at the Shi'ite pilgrimage in Kerbala contrasted with a warm reception given by Kurds in northern Iraq to retired Gen. Jay Garner, the top US civilian administrator charged with rebuilding Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

Beating their chests, slashing their scalps and whipping themselves with chains until they bled, Shi'ites, who make up about 60 per cent of Iraq's population, streamed through Kerbala, 110km south of Baghdad, in the first such pilgrimage in decades.

Shi'ite leaders estimated a million or more people could flock to Kerbala this week for the climax of the Arbaiin pilgrimage to the tomb of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammad, who was killed in the city 13 centuries ago.

Under Saddam any attempt to make the pilgrimage was harshly punished. The last major celebration of Arbaiin in 1977, ended with Saddam's forces massacring Shi'ites on the roads to Kerbala.

Some pilgrims erupted in chants praising Islam and condemning Israel and the United States, an ominous signal for Garner's reconstruction mission.

"Yes, yes to Islam, no to America, no to colonialism and no to occupation," chanted a crowd of men marching in Kerbala.

US helicopters flew over the city but American Marines on the outskirts kept their distance, hoping to avoid friction.

US President George W. Bush has shown little concern about Shi'ite demands for an Islamic state in Iraq, according to an article in Newsweek.

"I love the stories about people saying 'Isn't it wonderful to be able to express our religion, the Shia religion, on a pilgrimage this weekend.' It made my day to read that," Newsweek quoted Bush as saying in an interview with magazines.

In northern Iraq, Garner, who helped the Kurds establish an autonomous region there after the 1991 Gulf War, was greeted by cheering crowds and showered with flower petals.

He held talks in the town of Dukan with Jalal Talabani, veteran leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, and Massoud Barzani, head of the rival Kurdistan Democratic Party. Both said they supported creating a federal Iraqi state.

"I am very happy he is here. At least with the Americans we will no longer be afraid of chemicals and genocide," said Hiwa Abdullah, a Kurdish professor at a university in Sulaimaniya.

Saddam used chemical weapons against the Kurds in 1988, killing about 5000.

The trip to the north was part of a four-day assessment by Garner of the damage caused by the war, which caused thousands of casualties, devastated several Iraqi cities and left many communities without power, water and other essential services.

Jordan's King Abdullah, a staunch Washington ally whose country shares a border with Iraq, said much would depend on the way in which the United States handles the reconstruction and how quickly it hands over to a new Iraqi government.

"General Garner is obviously going in with his team. But it's important that the Iraqis have a sense that the new leadership of Iraq is being given a chance to take a role as quickly as possible," Hussein told CBS' 60 Minutes II.

He said Iraqis would probably prefer the new government to be made up of people who stayed in the country under Saddam's rule, rather than figures like Ahmad Chalabi, a favorite with the Pentagon, who spent many years in the opposition in exile.

"I would believe that the majority of the Iraqis would feel more comfortable with people who had suffered with them. And, although the opposition can play a role, I think it's a minor role," Abdullah said.

At the United Nations, France's ambassador said sanctions against Iraq should be suspended and the UN programme that uses Iraqi oil revenues to pay for humanitarian aid should be modified to suit current needs.

"Being pragmatic, viewing first suspending these sanctions, we might be in a position to comply with the full lifting of the sanctions," French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin told reporters in Ankara, Turkey.

France's surprise move went half way to meeting the demands of the United States, which wants the 12-year-old UN embargoes lifted completely so that Iraq's oil revenue can be used to pay for much of the country's reconstruction.

How a suspension of sanctions would be accomplished is by no means decided and there is expected to be more controversy over the UN oil-for-food programme.

China appeared to be leaning toward the US position, but other Security Council members, notably Russia and France, have balked, arguing that UN inspectors must certify Iraq free of weapons of mass destruction before sanctions can be scrapped.

"We all want to know that there are no WMDs in Iraq and the only way to verify it is to have inspectors in Iraq to see for themselves and report back to the Security Council," said Russia's UN Ambassador Sergei Lavrov.

Bush justified the US invasion of Iraq on March 20 by accusing Saddam of hiding chemical and biological weapons, but no confirmed trace of such weapons has yet been found.

Hans Blix, chief of the UN inspection team, said his arms experts had the most credibility to declare Iraq safe and could return within weeks.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer dismissed the idea of sending the UN inspectors back. "We are looking forward, not backward. Saddam Hussein's regime is gone," he told reporters.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq war