Thousands of Iraqi Sunnis massed along a major western highway and in other parts of the country today for what appear to be the largest protests yet in a week of demonstrations, intensifying pressure on the Shiite-led government.
The rallies underscore the strength of a tenacious movement that appears to be gathering support. The largest
demonstrations took place on a highway leading to Jordan and Syria in the Sunni-dominated desert province of Anbar west of Baghdad.
Protesters in the Anbar city of Fallujah held aloft placards declaring the day a “Friday of honor.” Some carried
old Iraqi flags used during the era of former dictator Saddam Hussein, whose Sunni-dominated government was ousted in the US-led invasion nearly a decade ago.
Others raised the current flag, which was approved in 2008. A few raised the banner of the predominantly Sunni
rebels across the border who are fighting to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad.
In the northern city of Mosul, around 3,000 demonstrators took to the streets to denounce what they called the
sidelining of Sunnis in Iraq and to demand the release of Sunni prisoners. As in protests earlier in the week,
demonstrators there chanted the Arab Spring slogan: “The people want the downfall of the regime.”
Thousands likewise took to the streets in the northern Sunni towns of Tikrit and Samarra, where they were joined by
lawmakers and provincial officials, said Salahuddin provincial spokesman Mohammed al-Asi.
At a conference in Baghdad, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki warned against a return to sectarian conflict and cautioned that the country is close to returning to the “dark days when people were killed because of their names or identities.”
He also used the occasion to take a jab at the protesters in Anbar.
Nations that look for peace, love and reconstruction must choose civilized ways to express themselves. It is not
acceptable to express opinions by blocking the roads, encouraging sectarianism, threating to launch wars and
dividing Iraq,” he said. “Instead we need to talk, to listen to each other and to agree … to end our differences.”
The demonstrations follow the arrest last week of 10 bodyguards assigned to Finance Minister Rafia al-Issawi, who
comes from Anbar and is one of the central government’s most senior Sunni officials.
—————-AP