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fra New York Times i dag, -

efter rapporter om hvem og hvor mange der demonstrede for at få USA ud af
Irak:


Despite the harsh talk, several prominent Sunni groups have recently
indicated a willingness to consider taking part in the democratic process.
That, in turn, has created anxiety among hard-line groups that want to
continue fighting the Americans.

Last week, 64 Sunni clerics issued a fatwa, or holy writ, encouraging Iraqi
Sunnis to join the police and armed forces.



Og det er jo værd at lægge mærke til.



The statement represented a significant break with the past; Iraqi police
officers and soldiers have been among the prime targets of the
Sunni-dominated insurgency.

On Saturday, insurgent sympathizers passed out leaflets at mosques in Mosul,
a Sunni-majority city, threatening Sunnis if they joined the police and
armed forces.

The leaflets were labeled "Al Qaeda of Mesopotamia," the group led by Abu
Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian militant who has pledged support to Al Qaeda
and is believed responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Iraqi civilians.

"Sunnis must ban their sons from collaborating with the infidel crusaders,"
the leaflet read. "Allowing Sunnis to join the tyrannical army would make
jihad lose its meaning."

In Baghdad, officials at Yarmouk Hospital reported that 40 bullet-riddled
bodies had been brought there from Yusufiya, a town south of Baghdad known
as a haven for insurgents.

Also in Baghdad, an aide to Mr. Sadr, Fadhel Abdul-Zahra al-Musawi, was
fatally shot Friday night while he drove a car in Dawra, a neighborhood in
southern Baghdad. In Mosul, a car bomb killed two Iraqi policemen and a
woman working for the agricultural department there.


Khalid al-Ansary contributed reporting for this article.