.Crowd attacks Iranian consulate in Iraq's Basra
BASRA, Iraq, June 14 (Reuters) - A crowd accusing Iranian television of insulting an Iraqi cleric attacked Iran's consulate in the city of Basra on Wednesday, setting fire to an annex of the compound, Reuters television footage showed.
Hundreds of protesters outside the consulate chanted slogans against an Iranian satellite station which they said had aired a programme slandering prominent Shi'ite Muslim cleric Mahmoud al-Hasani, who has many followers in the oil-rich Iraqi city.
Thick smoke billowed near the newly-opened complex in Iraq's second city, which is patrolled by British forces.
One demonstrator climbed up the roof of a building in the compound and hoisted an Iraqi flag, a Reuters cameraman said.
A cleric who addressed the crowd outside demanded an apology from the government in neighbouring, mainly Shi'ite Iran.
"If our demand is not met we will not be able to hold back these angry crowds," Ahmed al-Budairi, an aide of Hasani, told the demonstrators. The Iranian television station was not immediately available for comment.
Basra has seen a deterioration in security over the past year as rival Shi'ite groups tussle for power. Residents say militias rule the streets.
New Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki declared a state of emergency in Basra last month and vowed to crack down on gangs and feuding Shi'ite factions threatening oil exports.
But violence has not eased.
An official at the Iranian embassy in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, confirmed the attack and said about 20 demonstrators had entered the compound, smashing the windows of a car and causing other damage.
About five diplomatic staff had been inside the consulate at the time but there were no injuries, the diplomat added.
He described the part of the complex that was set on fire as a "police kiosk" outside the consulate. A Reuters cameraman in Basra said it was attached to the compound.
The Iranian official also criticised Iraqi police for not preventing the crowd trouble. "We believe police should do a better job," he said.
Once war foes in the 1980s, Iraq and Shi'ite Iran have improved ties since a U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003, allowing Iraq's long-oppressed Shi'ite majority to become dominant.
Saddam's once-dominant Sunni Arab minority fears that Iran is trying to gain influence in Iraq, especially in its south.
Reuters
Well I don't know I think the Sunnis need to look closer to home, it would seem to me that they are directly responsible for driving many Iraqis into the arms of the Iranians. Their collusion with the wahabi foreign terrorist and their racist doctrine is giving many Iraqis no other place to turn.
Hundreds of protesters outside the consulate chanted slogans against an Iranian satellite station which they said had aired a programme slandering prominent Shi'ite Muslim cleric Mahmoud al-Hasani, who has many followers in the oil-rich Iraqi city.
Thick smoke billowed near the newly-opened complex in Iraq's second city, which is patrolled by British forces.
One demonstrator climbed up the roof of a building in the compound and hoisted an Iraqi flag, a Reuters cameraman said.
A cleric who addressed the crowd outside demanded an apology from the government in neighbouring, mainly Shi'ite Iran.
"If our demand is not met we will not be able to hold back these angry crowds," Ahmed al-Budairi, an aide of Hasani, told the demonstrators. The Iranian television station was not immediately available for comment.
Basra has seen a deterioration in security over the past year as rival Shi'ite groups tussle for power. Residents say militias rule the streets.
New Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki declared a state of emergency in Basra last month and vowed to crack down on gangs and feuding Shi'ite factions threatening oil exports.
But violence has not eased.
An official at the Iranian embassy in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, confirmed the attack and said about 20 demonstrators had entered the compound, smashing the windows of a car and causing other damage.
About five diplomatic staff had been inside the consulate at the time but there were no injuries, the diplomat added.
He described the part of the complex that was set on fire as a "police kiosk" outside the consulate. A Reuters cameraman in Basra said it was attached to the compound.
The Iranian official also criticised Iraqi police for not preventing the crowd trouble. "We believe police should do a better job," he said.
Once war foes in the 1980s, Iraq and Shi'ite Iran have improved ties since a U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003, allowing Iraq's long-oppressed Shi'ite majority to become dominant.
Saddam's once-dominant Sunni Arab minority fears that Iran is trying to gain influence in Iraq, especially in its south.
Reuters
Well I don't know I think the Sunnis need to look closer to home, it would seem to me that they are directly responsible for driving many Iraqis into the arms of the Iranians. Their collusion with the wahabi foreign terrorist and their racist doctrine is giving many Iraqis no other place to turn.
posted by madtom at 11:50 AM
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