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Shiite cleric urges resistance of U.S.
| quote: | Shiite cleric urges resistance of U.S.
By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer Fri Mar 16, 5:45 PM ET
BAGHDAD - After weeks of cooperation with a new security plan, radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr decried U.S. forces as occupiers Friday and called on his followers to "shout 'No, No America!'" in a sign of resurgent anger and opposition.
Thousands of Shiites flooded from the mosque where al-Sadr's statement was read by a preacher at Friday prayers, spilling into the streets of the Sadr City slum to protest the two-week-old American military presence there. The U.S. military says al-Sadr has gone to
Iran.
Officials with al-Sadr's Mahdi Army did not explain why al-Sadr chose to issue the surprisingly confrontational statement.
American military leaders had credited al-Sadr — who was said to have ordered his Mahdi Army militia to put away its weapons and not confront U.S. and Iraqi troops — for the relatively effortless start of security patrols and raids in the volatile Shiite slum, a no-go zone for U.S. forces until about two weeks ago.
Al-Sadr's message on the Muslim day of prayer and rest could signal a shift in his willingness to absorb the perceived indignity of the U.S. troop presence and wait out the security plan. Or it could have been nothing more than a reminder to his followers that he was watching carefully and was still their leader. |
Iranian president: sanctions won't work
| quote: | Iranian president: sanctions won't work
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 43 minutes ago
TEHRAN, Iran - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insisted Friday that new sanctions won't force
Iran to give up its right to enrich uranium, and he blasted the
U.N. Security Council as an instrument used by "bullying" Western nations against Tehran.
"We have achieved the nuclear fuel cycle. We won't give it up under pressure. You can't stop the Iranian nation from this path through meetings," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by state media.
But even as he reiterated Tehran would pursue the controversial enrichment program, he has asked to speak before the U.N.'s most powerful body on the day the Security Council votes on a new resolution on stepped up sanctions against his country.
Security Council members have raised no objections to Ahmadinejad's request, said South Africa's U.N. Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo, who holds the rotating council presidency. |
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