Police clash with protesters in Iraq

BAGHDAD: Protesters clashed yesterday with Iraqi police trying to prevent them from reaching the most venerated mosque in Baghdad, as the people again massed for anti-government rallies in several Iraqi cities. Several people were reported injured.
Iraqi security forces had prevented worshippers from holding Friday prayers at the Abu Hanifa mosque last week as well, a development that reflects heightened sectarian tensions nearly a decade after the US invasion of Iraq.
Police officials said anti-riot police used batons and water hoses in order to prevent worshippers from crossing a bridge leading to the mosque, which is located in Azamiyah.
The officials said several worshippers sustained bruises and minor injuries in the skirmishes at the bridge, about 2 km from Abu Hanifa. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to the media.
Abdul-Rahman Al-Azzawi was one among the people who tried to cross the 14th of Ramadan bridge when they were met by security forces. "We were showered with water and the policemen started to beat us," he said. "I do not know the reason behind this savage attack. We were only going to a mosque, not to Al-Maliki's office in the Green Zone," referring to the heavily secured quarter in the center of Baghdad where many officials have their offices.
The clashes did not reach the Abu Hanifa mosque itself.
The area around the holy site was calm and hundreds of people, including Sunni Parliament speaker Osama Al-Nujaifi, attended the Friday prayers there.
During the Friday sermon in Abu Hanifa, Imam Haasan Al-Taha criticized the restriction of movement imposed on worshippers.
"Several days ago, the authorities promised us that they would provide the people free access to Abu Hanifa, but once again the government officials failed to live to their promises," Al-Taha said.
In the western province of Anbar, the heart of the protest movement that began in December, masked men arrived at the site of demonstrations in Fallujah raising the flag used by rebels in neighboring Syria.
They also held aloft a homemade black banner flag very similar to that used by Al-Qaeda's branch in Iraq, suggesting that supporters of the terror group are trying to make their presence felt in the largely peaceful protests.
The protests were sparked by the arrest of bodyguards assigned to Finance Minister Rafia Al-Issawi in late December.