Iraqi security forces and protesters stand outside the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, January 1, 2020 |
BAGHDAD, Iraq
Supporters of Iranian-backed Iraqi paramilitary groups who stormed the
U.S. Embassy’s perimeter and hurled rocks in two days of protests withdrew on
Wednesday after Washington dispatched extra troops and threatened reprisals
against Tehran.
The demonstrators, angry at U.S. air
strikes against the Tehran-backed Kataib Hezbollah group in which at least 25
people were killed, threw stones at the building while U.S. forces stationed on
the rooftops fired tear gas to disperse them.
By mid-afternoon, most appeared to
have obeyed a call to withdraw, issued by the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF)
umbrella group of mainly Shi’ite militia, which said the demonstrators’ message
had been heard.
Young men used palm tree branches to
sweep the street in front of the embassy compound. Others packed up equipment
and vans arrived to take people away. Some left to set up a protest camp in
front of a nearby hotel.
Iraq’s military said all protesters
had left by the evening.
The protests marked a new turn in the
shadow war between Washington and Tehran playing out across the Middle East.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who
faces a re-election campaign in 2020, accused Iran of orchestrating the
violence. He threatened on Tuesday to retaliate against Iran but said later he
did not want war.
Iran, under severe economic duress
from punishing U.S. sanctions put in place by Trump, denied responsibility.
The unrest followed U.S. air raids on
Sunday against Kataib Hezbollah bases in retaliation for missile attacks that
killed a U.S. contractor in northern Iraq last week.
On Tuesday, crowds chanted: ‘Death to
America!’, lit fires, and smashed surveillance cameras. They breached an outer
perimeter of the embassy but did not enter the main compound.
The huge embassy, built along the
banks of the Tigris River in central Baghdad’s fortified “green zone” during
the American occupation following the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam
Hussein, is the biggest U.S. diplomatic mission in the world.
Washington said its diplomats were
safe and it was rushing hundreds of extra troops to the region.
The State Department said on
Wednesday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo decided to postpone his upcoming
trip to Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Cyprus to remain in
Washington and monitor the situation in Iraq. [L1N29606E]
Pompeo spoke on Wednesday with Iraqi
Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim binHamad al-Thani and
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the State Department said.
Pompeo said on Twitter that Abdul
Mahdi had agreed that Iraq “would continue to uphold its responsibility to keep
U.S. personnel secure and would move the Iran-backed attackers away from @USEmbBaghdad.”
Pompeo wrote on Twitter he thanked
the emir in the call “for Qatar’s solidarity in the face of Iran’s malign
regional influence,” including the attack on the embassy in Baghdad.
The embassy said all public consular
operations were suspended and all future appointments canceled.
The anti-American action came after
months of protests in Iraq against the government and the Iran-backed militias
that support it. Many Iraqis complain their country has become a battlefield
for a proxy war for influence between Washington and Tehran, and that their
leaders are too beholden to outside powers.
Iraq’s government has long faced
frictions in its close relations with the two foes. Trump spoke to Abdul Mahdi
on Tuesday and demanded Iraq protect the embassy.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei on Wednesday condemned the U.S. attacks. Iran summoned a Swiss envoy,
who represents U.S. interests in Tehran, to complain about what it described as
“warmongering” words from Washington.
U.S. officials said 750 extra troops
would initially be based out of Kuwait and as many as 4,000 troops could be
sent to the region in coming days.
More than 5,000 U.S. troops are
stationed in Iraq supporting local forces. The air strikes have galvanized
calls inside Iraq to expel them.
Many in the crowd outside the embassy
said ending Washington’s presence in Iraq was their main goal.
Despite decades of enmity between
Iran and the United States, Iran-backed militias and U.S. forces found
themselves on the same side during Iraq’s 2014-2017 war against Islamic State
fighters, with both powers helping the government recapture territory from
militants who had overrun a third of Iraq.
Since then, U.S. troops have yet to
leave, while the Iran-backed militias have been incorporated into the security
forces.
Abdul Mahdi, who has announced plans
to step down in the face of anti-government protests in which more than 450
people were killed, is backed by Iran and its allies.
The militia may have decided to pull
back from the embassy to avoid making him look weak or to avert clashes with
government forces.
Overnight, demonstrators pitched
tents and camped outside the embassy walls, then brought food, cooking
equipment and mattresses during the morning, indicating plans to stay before
the withdrawal call.
“Our sit-in is eternal, until this
devil’s den is closed off forever, but don’t give anyone an excuse to make your
protest violent. Don’t clash with security,” one protest leader told the crowd
from a stage erected at the embassy before the departure. - Reuters
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