Iraqis stopped work for five minutes on Sunday in support of the Palestinian uprising, or Intifada against Israel.
This gesture, called by the Iraqi leadership, was observed in Baghdad and in different provinces throughout the country, AFP cited the official Iraqi news agency.
In Rashid Street, for instance, one of Baghdad's main thoroughfares, traffic came to a standstill as motorists stood by the side of their cars for five minutes.
"The Iraqi people will always show solidarity with the Palestinian people in the face of massacres committed by Zionist occupiers," said Sahera Ibrahim, a mother who got out of a bus to observe the show of solidarity standing in the street.
Work was also stopped in offices and universities while church bells rang out and Muslim clerics filled the air with cries of "God is greatest" from mosque minarets.
Iraq has rallied to defend the Palestinian cause, announcing the mobilization of 6.5 million volunteers for the "liberation of Palestine."
Baghdad, which has been under an international embargo since its 1990 invasion of neighboring Kuwait, has also pledged an assistance of 903.9 million dollars for the Palestinians. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
