Al-Sadr Aide Denounces Demands Release of Kidnapped French Journalists As

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Al-Sadr Aide Denounces Demands Release of Kidnapped French Journalists As Worshippers Converge on Kufa

Asaad al-Basri, a high ranking aide of rebel Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, delivers a speech in his support before Friday afternoon prayer outside al-Sadr's office in Basra, Iraq, Sept. 3, 2004. (AP Photo/Nabil al Jurani)
09-03-2004 9:28 AM
By KIM HOUSEGO, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- An aide to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr denounced the kidnapping of two French journalists in Iraq and appealed for their release Friday in a sermon at a makeshift pulpit outside the revered mosque in Kufa as hundreds of worshippers held their first weekly prayers since last week's peace agreement.

Al-Sadr aides initially said the cleric planned to give the sermon at the Kufa mosque, which was closed last week after militants pulled out as part of the peace deal, but he abandoned the idea amid fears it could raise tensions. Iraqi security forces also sealed off roads and fired warning shots near the city, seeking to limit the number of worshippers and avoid unrest.

Sheik Jaber al-Khafaji, delivering al-Sadr's sermon on his behalf, condemned the kidnapping of the two French journalists and urged their quick release.

"This is inhumane and I ask that it not be repeated in the future," he said. "You should know that such actions are not part of the Iraqi resistance. ... They tarnish the image of the Iraqi resistance."


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[BJ]

1. The al Qaeda operatives are Bush/Saudi agent provocateurs