Iraq's Shias gather for massive pro-Hizbullah march

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20060803-092521-3168r

BAGHDAD -- Thousands of Iraqi Shias converged on Baghdad Thursday in answer to radical cleric Moqtada Al Sadr's call for a massive show of strength in support of Lebanon's Hizbullah in its war with Israel.

The planned march comes at a particularly tense time in Baghdad, which is riven by attacks, including a blast in a crowded commercial area Thursday that killed 10 people and wounded 32, according to security agencies.

A booby-trapped moped detonated in a market and ripped through fruit vendors' stalls scattering grapes and peaches on the bloodstained streets, in the latest violence to hit a capital racked by sectarian bloodletting.

Across the center and south of the country, Shias waved Iraqi flags and chanted "Death to America! Death to Israel!" as they mounted convoys of buses to head for the capital.

The demonstration is to be held following Friday prayers in the teeming Baghdad suburb of Sadr City, home to some 2 million Shias.

[uppityperson]

1. wow, I would not want to be in Iraq.