2 Killed at Pro-Cleric March Near Najaf

[Nambe]

KUFA, Iraq (AP)

Unidentified gunmen on Wednesday killed two people and wounded five others who were taking part in what appeared to be a peaceful demonstration supporting radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Kufa, northeast of Najaf, witnesses and hospital officials said.

Video footage from Associated Press Television News showed demonstrators wounded during a few minutes of heavy gunfire. It was unclear from the footage who was shooting.

Mohammed Abdul Kadhim, an employee at Kufa's Furat al-Awsat Hospital, said two marchers were killed and five wounded. ..

Witnesses said the gunfire appeared to come from an Iraqi National Guard post, which sat behind concrete blast walls along the route. The automatic weapons fire sent the marchers into a panic, with many scurrying for safety and yelling angrily. No one in the crowd could be seen firing a weapon, and it was unclear whether the incident was a gunbattle or an unprovoked attack on the demonstration. ,,

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[minkyboodle]

1. this quote from the article is most interesting

Earlier Wednesday afternoon, Najaf Gov. Adnan al-Zurufi said Iraqi security forces had "taken all needed measures to prevent any crowds from entering the province," calling it a "military area."
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=736&e=1&u=/ap/20040825/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_demonstrators_attacked

Isn't Sistani planning on marching to the Mosque to try to diffuse the situation with Sadr. Here's a nightmare scenario (actually the whole damn occupation is one), Sistani tries to march peacefully to the Mosque, and he and his followers are attacked by either US or Iraqi National Guard troops. There is your united Shia uprising right there.