Posted on 05/21/2004 11:04:48 AM PDT by areafiftyone
EIRUT, May 21 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Lebanese Shi'ites in white shrouds marched in Beirut on Friday in a collective show of their willingness to die in defence of holy shrines in U.S.-occupied Iraq.
Clinching their fists and chanting "death to America, death to Israel", a white sea of men, women and children swept across the streets of a mainly Shi'ite Beirut suburb in a massive show of strength by the Shi'ite Muslim Hizbollah guerrilla group.
Hizbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, addressing the crowd, demanded U.S. forces leave Kerbala and Najaf, the holiest Shi'ite cities in Iraq, and said Muslims and Arabs were facing the same enemy -- the United States and Israel.
"Today, we must fully understand that the battle is one, the enemy is one and that we are facing one camp, the American-Israeli camp," Nasrallah, also wearing a white shroud under his cleric's robe, said.
"Iraq is not limited to Najaf and Kerbala but we call on American troops to leave Najaf and Kerbala to stop the escalation into something bigger."
Carrying yellow Hizbollah flags, many demonstrators flocked to Beirut from across Lebanon, some on foot. Sunni and Shi'ite Muslim clerics, some Iraqis and Palestinian refugees also took part in the march, witnesses said.
in defence of the shrines.
"Maybe now that they see this huge crowd, they will think a thousand time before they humiliate us. If Nasrallah says go and fight we will all go...death doesn't fighten us."
Nasrallah"DEATH DOESN'T SCARE US"
"The Americans only understand the language of force," Ahmed Ismail, 45, told Reuters, adding he was willing to offer the life of his two young sons was scheduled to address the crowd at the end of the march.
U.S. forces have vowed to arrest or kill rebel Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and crush his Mehdi Army militia in Najaf and Kerbala.
Sadr has taken refuge in Najaf while his gunmen have clashed daily with U.S. troops near the shrines in both cities.
The United States describes Hizbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, is a terrorist organisation. It accuses the group of launching a spate of attacks on U.S. interests in Lebanon in the 1980s, including hostage-takings and the killing of 241 Marines in an attack in Beirut in 1983.
Hizbollah guerrillas were the main force battling Israeli occupation of south Lebanon in the 1990s until Israel withdrew in 2000.
In Bahrain, angry Bahrainis protesting against the presence of U.S.-led forces in the Iraqi holy Shi'ite cities clashed with security forces in the capital, Manama, and set a police car on fire.
Violence broke out after police fired tear gas to disperse thousands of mainly Shi'ite Muslim demonstrators demanding the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Najaf and Kerbala.
Buh Bye! 72 Virgin camels coming right up!
Damn shame really. All those white outfits could be seen from Mars probably. What a target. They all want to die so why are so many lib Americans so cruel and insensitive by NOT letting them?
I doubt that they are clean; the garments have shi'ite stains on them.
We still owe Hizbollah a super tanker full of whoopass, and I vote we start with Nasrallah and 241 of his closest fiends.
Today I heard a soccer mom on Rush's program advocate using tactical nukes in Iraq. I think half the country is fed up with PC wars.
All of them together in one place--what a convenient way to rid the world of islamic terrorists with just one little itty bitty teensy weensy yellow polkadot bomb.
Message to dumb-ass rags: Want to save your precious mosques? Stop using them as fire bases. (However, if you still wish to die to save them, we can arrange that).
I agree. I read the letter written in the Newspapers here in NYC and half of them say Bush needs to get tougher and to hell with the Geneva Convention.
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