Thousands of Iraqis took to the streets of Baghdad and cities in the Shia-majority south of the country on Friday to condemn Bahrain for crushing an uprising a year ago. The protests, organised by Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, took place in a half-dozen cities in south Iraq with attendance ranging from dozens to several thousand, AFP reporters said.
"The Bahraini king is a king only to himself, not for the oppressed people of Bahrain," Sadrist official Ibrahim al-Jabari said in a speech to thousands of demonstrators in the movement's Sadr City bastion in north Baghdad. Jabari also criticised the Arab League for barring Syria from attending an upcoming summit in Baghdad, but allowing Bahrain to join.
Protesters shouted, "Bahrain! Free, Free Bahrain!" and held banners condemning Saudi Arabia's "interference" in the Gulf monarchy. Rallies were also held in Sadr's headquarters town of Najaf, the southern port city of Basra, and the towns of Nasiriyah, Hilla, Amara and Diwaniyah.
AFP journalists said thousands of demonstrators attended the Najaf and Amara protests, while hundreds took part in the Basra, Nasiriyah and Hilla rallies. Diwaniyah, however, only say a few dozen protesters. "All of these protesters have come to say to the Bahraini leaders, 'Stop what you are doing to the people of Bahrain'," said Mohaned al-Gharawi, a Sadrist official taking part in the Najaf demonstration.
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