Tens of thousands of demonstrators shouting “No to America” marched through Basra on Thursday supporting a call by Iraq’s most revered Shi’ite cleric for direct elections to form a sovereign Iraqi government. The demonstration, which concluded peacefully after a speech at a local mosque, was a huge show of strength by the country’s Shi’ite Muslim majority, and its top leader Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, against the U.S. blueprint for the transition. The demonstration took place on the day bank notes bearing the face of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein ceased being legal tender, another removal of his image from everyday Iraqi life. Full Story
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