Shi'ites in Umm Qasr enjoy(?) their new freedom. Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage Shi'ites Defy Saddam with Ritual in Streets
Thu April 3, 2003 06:07 PM ET
By Michael Georgy
UMM QASR, Iraq (Reuters) - Shi'ites in the southern Iraqi town of Umm Qasr performed a public ritual of self flagellation, a move they said would have meant death if President Saddam Hussein was still in control there.

The ritual, performed at a funeral Thursday night, was the first open sign of defiance of the Iraqi president by Shi'ite Muslims in the port town since it was captured by U.S. and British troops.

"Saddam your days are numbered," the marchers chanted, as religious ritual turned into broader protest of a kind seldom heard anywhere in Iraq.