Thousands of Shiite Muslims assembled by a Baghdad mosque under the gaze of U.S. troops Wednesday to protest the arrest of two clerics and vowed to march on the coalition's headquarters.
The Shiites, belonging to young cleric Moqtada Sadr's Mehdi Army, marched in formation as a U.S. general negotiated with their leaders, who were enraged by the arrest of Shiite clerics Moayad Kazrajy and Jaleel al-Shumari.
"The charges for both is conducting criminal and anti-coalition acts," said Brigadier General Martin Dempsey about Kazrajy and Shumari, who were detained earlier this week.
Dempsey warned the organisers of the protest to keep their men in check.
"You have to control your people and I have to control my people. It is more important for the people to know how to think than how to march. We encourage peaceful demonstrations. We respect the Shiite," AFP cited Dempsey as saying. (Albawaba.com)
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