Iraqi leaders say they don't want Turkish peacekeepers

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraq's interim leaders told U.S. officials Wednesday they don't want peacekeepers from Turkey or other neighboring countries but are willing to soften their opposition to avoid a confrontation with the U.S.-led coalition.

They delivered their message as several thousand Shiite Muslims marched to coalition headquarters to demand the release of a cleric arrested for "anti-coalition activities." Protesters hurled stones and sandals -- an Iraqi gesture of contempt -- at U.S. troops as they dispersed without winning the preacher's freedom.

A violent confrontation with Shiites, who form about 60 percent of Iraq's 25 million people, could have serious repercussions for the U.S.-led occupation. Most of the attacks against U.S. troops are believed carried out by Sunni Muslims, who formed the base of support for Saddam Hussein's regime.

Also Wednesday, U.S. troops raided three weapons caches just north of Baghdad, uncovering 49 anti-aircraft missiles and 50 tank shells, the U.S. military said.

Sending in the troops

The Turkish parliament's decision Tuesday to authorize the sending of Turkish peacekeepers to join the coalition was applauded in Washington, which is eager to bring in more troops to ease the burden on the 130,000 American soldiers.

However, the decision upset many Iraqis because of the legacy of 400 years of Turkish colonial domination of what is now Iraq. Opposition to the Turks runs deepest in the north, where Iraq's minority Kurds have watched ethnic cousins across the border in southeastern Turkey wage an on-off separatist guerrilla war in recent decades, in part from bases in northern Iraq.

Some Iraqis also worry that Turkey may support the interests of ethnic Turks in northern Iraq, a small minority often at odds with their Kurdish neighbors.

Iyad Allawi, president of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, told The Associated Press that "important sensitivities" were involved in deploying Turkish troops in Iraq. The spokesman for the council, Haider Ahmed, said members told chief U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer that council members did not want to see any peacekeeping troops from countries -- including Turkey -- that border Iraq.

Up to the coalition

After meeting with the council, Bremer said he was willing to discuss the issue but that the final decision rested with the coalition.

Despite their opposition, key council members said they wanted to avoid a showdown with the Americans over the Turkish presence. Mouwafak al-Rabii, a Shiite member of the council and longtime human rights activist, told reporters "there are still differences" with the coalition over the Turks "but they are reconcilable differences."

"We don't want any confrontation with the Coalition Provisional Authority, and we have decided to work together," al-Rabii said.

"This is not a stumbling block in our relations" with the coalition."

In Baghdad, the confrontation between U.S. troops and Shiite Muslims ended without major violence, although Shiite clerics promised to continue agitating for the release of cleric Moayed al-Khazraji. He was arrested Monday as he led a 12-man delegation to negotiate with the Americans in the municipal council building.

Brig. Gen. Martin Dempsey, commander of the 1st Armored Division, said al-Khazraji was being held "on charges of criminal and anti-coalition activities" but would not elaborate. Shiites said he had been wrongly accused of keeping weapons in the mosque.

A large crowd of his supporters confronted American troops throughout the day Tuesday outside his mosque.

On Wednesday, the crowd reassembled as U.S. officials held talks with a group of clerics at the mosque. Those negotiations failed to resolve the standoff, and protesters began marching toward the center of the city, chanting Islamic slogans. U.S. helicopters hovered overhead.

By early afternoon, the marchers converged on the heavily guarded presidential palace that serves as coalition headquarters. At one point, some protesters lay in the street, blocking two U.S. armored personnel carriers.

The demonstrators also blocked all the streets leading to the palace. Policemen were warned by the protest organizers to stay inside their stations or leave the area, advice that was heeded by the policemen.

Some of the protesters attacked reporters and photographers covering the demonstration. An Associated Press photographer was beaten and had his camera destroyed by an angry mob.

The crowd began to disperse in late afternoon, hurling stones and sandals -- a deep insult in the Arab world -- at U.S. troops outside the compound. Some of them pointed to U.S. soldiers and moved their hands across their necks in a threat of violence.

"Today we're peaceful, tomorrow it will be war," they chanted.

Al-Khazraji is said to be close to Muqtada al-Sadr, a radical Shiite cleric who is strongly critical of the U.S. military occupation. However, al-Sadr's influence within Iraq's Shiite majority is believed to be less than that of older clerics who have spoken out against violence and have been generally more cooperative with American authorities.

Also, an explosion rocked a British military base in southern Iraq Wednesday evening but no casualties were reported. British officials said a light mortar round appeared to be the cause of the blast.

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Associated Press reporters Mariam Fam in Irbil and Tarek al-Issawi in Baghdad contributed to this report.