Shiites in Najaf Clash with Iraqi Forces: Opposition Sources

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, March 22, 2003

Shiites in Najaf Clash with Iraqi Forces: Opposition Sources

The holy city of Najaf in southern Iraq, mainly populated with Shiites, is bracing for an uprising against the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein, Iraqi opposition sources said on Saturday.

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The holy city of Najaf in southern Iraq, mainly populated with Shiites, is bracing for an uprising against the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein, Iraqi opposition sources said on Saturday.

"People in Najaf clashed with forces of the Saddam regime in various districts on Saturday and destroyed pictures and statues ofSaddam," said sources close to the Supreme Assembly of Islamic Revolution of Iraq, quoted by the official Iranian news agency.

A state of anticipation and revolt is prevailing in Najaf and other provinces in central Iraq, and anti-Saddam leaflets had been distributed in the city, the sources said.

"A similar popular movement is also in the making in the city of Samava. People in Samava are bringing down pictures and statues of Saddam and writing Islamic graffiti on walls," the sources said.

Population in Najaf, Karbala, Khaneqin, Kazemin and Samera are mainly Shiites, who are often in bitter terms with the Saddam regime.

These regions were scenes of widespread uprising in the 1991 Persian Gulf war, triggered by Iraq's invasion of neighboring Kuwait.

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