Al-Sadr Vows to Go Ahead With MarchThursday June 28, 2007 11:16 AM
By BASSEM MROUE
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD (AP) - Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr vowed
Thursday to go ahead with a planned march to a devastated
shrine in central Iraq but insisted the goal is not to confront
Sunnis who live along the way.
Instead, al-Sadr said the march is aimed at bringing Shiites
and Sunnis closer together and breaking down the barriers
imposed by the Americans and Sunni religious extremists.
The march is set for July 5 to the Askariya shrine in Samarra,
which was bombed for a second time June 13. Sunni
organizations and government officials have urged al-Sadr to
cancel the march, fearing it will escalate sectarian violence
that already has claimed thousands of lives.
Some Sunnis also fear that the march will bring thousands of
Shiites to Samarra in a bid to change the demographics of
the predominantly Sunni city. Al-Sadr insisted that his
marchers will return to their homes as soon as the march is
over.
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