Baghdad, Iraq – About 200 Shiites, many of them women in full-length black abayas, rallied Monday outside the Green Zone to demand that U.S. and Iraqi forces do more to stop attacks on Iraqis.
Some protesters waved banners with slogans demanding better care for families displaced by sectarian violence. One weeping woman held up the ID card of her husband, saying he was killed in a drive-by shooting.
Two Iraqi men – a soldier and a civilian – emerged from the fortified Green Zone, home of the U.S. Embassy and the Iraqi government, to meet with the protesters and take notes about their demands.
Such demonstrations are rare in Baghdad because of fears large groups might attract suicide bombers.
In the latest violence, four people were killed Monday when a bomb exploded in a market in Madain, a mostly Shiite town 14 miles southeast of Baghdad, police said. Two people were wounded.
At least 15 bullet-riddled bodies were found in the capital, the Interior Ministry said. The victims were men 20 to 40 years old; all were handcuffed and blindfolded, the ministry said.
In addition, two people were killed Monday in drive-by shootings in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad, police said. They included a former general in Saddam Hussein’s army.
U.S. officials hope the new Iraqi government, expected to be finalized this month, will be able to calm sectarian tensions and lure many Sunni Arabs away from the insurgency so U.S. and other international troops can begin heading home.
In Washington, President Bush said he was convinced Iraq’s leadership is “more determined that ever to succeed” with formation of a new permanent government.
