Tens of thousands of supporters of Iraqi Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr rallied in Baghdad and across the country on Saturday, condemning Israel and the United States and demanding an end to the war.
The massive crowds came as the Middle East war was due to enter its sixth week after strikes launched by the US and Israel against Iran on February 28.
Iraq has been unwillingly drawn into the conflict, with strikes targeting US interests on its soil as well as attacks against pro-Iran groups in the country.
Tens of thousands of men and some women packed into the streets around Baghdad’s central Tahrir Square on Saturday, waving the national flag and chanting: “No, no to Israel” and “No, no to America”.
“What America and Israel are doing in their aggression against the countries of the region is not a war of a military nature, but a senseless war,” Dhirgham Samir, attending the rally, told AFP.
“Today’s demonstration is an expression of rejection of aggression, arrogance, and injustice throughout the world, not just in Iraq,” he said.
Samir, who was in his forties, added that “this is a senseless war, targeting civilians”.
Across the region since the onset of war thousands have been killed.
In a statement, Sadr called for peaceful demonstrations “to condemn the Zionist-American aggression and to establish peace in the region”.
Under the giant Freedom Monument, commemorating Iraq’s declaration of independence, demonstrators also railed against what they said was US and Israeli meddling in the region.
“They violate the rights of all the peoples of the region first, and then the world,” cleric Ali Al-Fartousi told AFP.
“Humanity must speak out against these people and stop them,” he said, adding: “The time has come for the entire world to stand united against global Zionist-American arrogance.”
Sadr retains a devoted following of millions among Iraq’s majority Shiite population, and has previously mobilised huge crowds.
As well as popular support, Sadr also has representatives among Iraqi ministries and official institutions, despite opposing several governments over the years.
