Thousands of Iraqis demonstrate against airstrikes

by Waiel Faleh
The Associated Press

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BAGHDAD, Iraq - Thousands of Iraqis marched in the rain yesterday to protest U.S. and British airstrikes, and Iraqi television showed damaged houses and shops in a town where one man was killed when allied missiles hit nearby.

President Saddam Hussein met with his top air defense commander to explore ways of protecting the country from allied attacks in the wake of the raid, which targeted radar and command-and-control sites.

Friday night's strikes around Baghdad - which killed two people and wounded at least 20 - have raised strong condemnations from Arab allies of the United States. And Iraq warned that it raised tensions before key talks with the United Nations.

Saddam met yesterday with Minister of Military Industrialization Abdel-Tawab Mulla Huwaish and Lt. Gen. Shaheen Yassin Mohammed, commander of air defense units, according to Iraqi News Agency.

"The meeting discussed improving means of defending the great Iraq and its steadfastness in order to protect the brave Iraqis from harm," said the agency without elaborating.

The news agency reported Saturday that Saddam ordered the training of about 300,000 volunteers for what he called the Al-Quds - or Jerusalem - Army aiming to free Jerusalem from Israeli control.

The United States and Britain said the strikes were needed to thwart Iraq's improving capabilities in targeting allied jets patrolling a southern no-fly zone. The said five military facilities were hit.

Iraq's state-run satellite station repeatedly broadcast footage showing civilian buildings in two towns it said were damaged by the raids.

In the farming village of al-Hafriya, 25 miles south of Baghdad, houses were shown with windows shattered and doors torn off after a missile struck on the outskirts of town. Two stores, for agricultural supplies and automotive spare parts, suffered similar damage. A 28-year-old man from the town was killed.

In al-Rashdiya, 12 miles north of the capital, a witness said the missile had landed in a field of mud, softening the explosion.

Foreign media have not been allowed access to the bombed sites. It was not known where the strikes' other reported victim - a woman - was from.