At the close of a particularly bloody week in and around Baghdad, Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr railed against the U.S. on Friday, urging Iraqis to join in a protest against American “occupation, destruction and terrorism.” The date set for the protest is April 9, four years after the fall of Baghdad.
Washington Post:
As al-Sadr’s remarks were read in a mosque, Shiites in Baghdad loaded wooden coffins into vans and shoveled broken glass and other debris into wheelbarrows in the aftermath of a double suicide bombing at a marketplace. At least 181 people were killed or found dead Thursday as Sunni insurgents apparently stepped up their campaign of bombings to derail the seven-week-old security sweep in Baghdad.