Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 18, 1991 TAG: 9102180151
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NICOSIA, CYPRUS LENGTH: Medium
The reports by travelers from Iraq quoted Iraqi officials who could not be named. Their accounts could not be independently confirmed.
As far as the travelers know, it was the first anti-Saddam demonstration Iraqis have staged since the allied offensive began Jan. 17.
The 10 party officials in Diwaniyeh, 110 miles south of Baghdad, were all shot when they tried to confront the demonstration by as many as 5,000 people on Feb. 10, the reports said.
The accounts by government and Baath officials said at least two of the bodies were mutilated by the crowd.
Diwaniyeh is in a predominantly Shiite Muslim region. Shiites make up about 55 percent of Iraq's 17 million people, but Saddam's ruling elite is made up of minority Sunni Muslims.
The reported protest came amid a relentless allied air offensive in which Iraqi officials claim thousands of civilians have been killed.
"There were a lot of arrests after the killings, but no one knows for sure how many," according to one traveler's account of the Iraqi officials' reports.
"Officials say that the protesters were shouting anti-Saddam and anti-Baath slogans," another traveler said. "They were also protesting against the activities of the Popular Army."
The Popular Army is the Baath Party's militia, formed in the 1950s when the Baath was underground. It is used to enforce party authority.
The government claims the militia has 8 million members, but diplomats in Baghdad estimate its strength at around 850,000.
Dissent and public criticism of Saddam's repressive government are rare in Iraq. Saddam has systematically eliminated rivals or potential challengers since he came to power in 1979 and regularly purges his military.
The reported protests reflect what the travelers, who have visited Baghdad and other parts of Iraq several times over the last six months, described as a growing alienation among Iraqis.
The travelers said that some Iraqi government officials - all of whom are Baath members - are now openly questioning Saddam's dogged stand over Kuwait with outsiders where once they simply quoted party slogans.
Based on comments by these officials, the travelers said heavy allied bombing has led a growing number of Iraqis to conclude that Iraq cannot withstand an allied assault and that Saddam must moderate his stand or face catastrophe.
The travelers said there was no evidence of any popular move to try to topple the Iraqi leader.
by CNB