Shiite Anger Boils Over Into Demonstrations in Iraq

Angry members of Iraq’s Shiite majority staged major street demonstrations here and in the holy city of Najaf on Monday, a day after a bomb went off in an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate a major religious leader in Najaf.

The marches in Najaf, south of Baghdad, accompanied the funerals of three bodyguards killed in Sunday’s bombing.

But the demonstration by several thousand well-organized Shiites in Baghdad -- one of the largest such marches in the capital since the war -- focused on other issues and had a distinctly anti-U.S. tone.

“Down with America!” the demonstrators, almost all young men from a poor Shiite neighborhood, chanted as they marched past the palace now used by the U.S.-led coalition that runs Iraq. “Down with the ruling council!” they added, referring to the U.S.-backed Iraqi Governing Council, which Washington views as a transitional body to a democratic government.

The potent displays of Shiite anger followed a disquieting week in which the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad was bombed, killing 23; three British soldiers were ambushed and shot dead in the southern city of Basra; and fighting between ethnic Kurds and Turks cost at least 11 lives in and around the northern city of Kirkuk.

Occupation officials were quick to downplay the notion that the recent spate of violence resembled the scenario of sectarian upheaval that some predicted would occur once the iron-fisted rule of Saddam Hussein was overthrown. Hussein was ruthless in repressing Kurds, Shiites, ethnic Turks and other groups with aspirations to greater representation in this ethnically and religiously diverse nation.

“On any particular day in Iraq, the security situation as a whole is extremely calm and stable,” said Charles Heatly, a spokesman for the ruling coalition, who objected to a question at a press briefing about “mushrooming” violence in the country. “Baghdad is not as calm as other parts of the country, but it’s clearly not in any kind of level of chaos.”

U.S. officials are anxious to avoid radicalization of Iraq’s large Shiite community. Many Shiite leaders favor cooperating with the ruling coalition, but others are distinctly anti-Western and favor a theocratic government like the one in neighboring Shiite Iran. The Shiites were granted a majority of seats on Iraq’s governing council.

Sunday’s assassination attempt involved a bomb that exploded outside the offices of Ayatollah Mohammed Saeed Hakim. The cleric suffered minor wounds, but three bodyguards were killed. Their funerals drew thousands to the streets and triggered fears of disturbances in Najaf, site of a revered shrine and the heartland of Shiite Iraq.

Who is behind the assassination attempt remains unknown. The targeted cleric was generally viewed as a moderate who favored cooperating with the U.S.-led occupation. Media speculation here about potential attackers includes rival Shiite factions opposed to U.S. rule and former loyalists of the Hussein regime.

Occupation forces are trying to put down a stubborn insurgency that officials blame largely on some combination of Hussein loyalists and foreign terrorists who have entered the country through its porous borders. Members of a congressional delegation visiting Baghdad said Monday that they had seen no solid indication that the two groups had formed an alliance.

“There is no hard evidence they’re working together -- but that’s always the fear,” said Rep. Thomas M. Davis (R-Va.), who added that the delegation had been briefed by top military, intelligence and coalition staff. He and others cited the need for improved intelligence-gathering to quell the resistance.

“I think it’s pretty clear the general staff believes we don’t have a problem with the number of troops,” Davis said. “We have an intelligence problem.”

The march in Baghdad on Monday pointed to yet another potentially troubling sectarian split -- between the nation’s Shiite majority and the Kurds, who are overwhelmingly Sunni Muslims. The demonstrators were incensed by news from Kirkuk that over the weekend, Kurdish forces killed five Shiites of Turkish ancestry and damaged a religious shrine in the town of Tuz Khurmatu, south of Kirkuk. Other battles followed in Kirkuk, costing more lives.

The Shiites of Baghdad have embraced the cause of their brethren to the north, who are ethnic Turks. The Turkmens of Iraq have already complained bitterly that Kurds, who generally enjoy good relations with U.S. forces, are attempting to gain control of the oil-rich region around Kirkuk in a new Iraqi federal state, further marginalizing the Turkmens.

“The Kurds are not respecting us and are abusing our rights,” said Iydin Rashad, a Baghdad architect and Turkmen who joined the march. “We want to work with the Americans, but we cannot allow ourselves to be persecuted.”

Meanwhile, U.N. officials on Monday began returning to relatives the bodies of the remaining victims from last week’s blast. Iraqi families have complained about the delay, noting that Muslim tradition calls for remains to be buried promptly.

But authorities said the criminal investigation and difficulties in identification slowed the task. Families were asked to provide fingerprints, dental records and DNA to identify victims because criminal prosecutions might result from the bombing, David Roath, a search and recovery chief for the U.S. Army, said Monday.

“We have been looking for him until 10 minutes ago,” said a bereaved Abdi Saad, a 54-year-old engineer who came to collect the body of his nephew, Omar Orfali, 33.

Orfali was a driver for an aid group working with children, based at the U.N. headquarters here. He was his father’s only son, and he was to have been married in two months.

“He was a very nice chap,” said his uncle, displaying a picture of his nephew in jeans and sandals, smiling in front of his car. “He was very quiet and calm. He did no harm to anybody.”

Times staff writer Tracy Wilkinson contributed to this report.