Thousands of Iraqis demonstrate

Excerpts from an Associated Press article March 4, 2011

Baghdad (AP) -- Thousands rallied across Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq on Friday in anti-government demonstrations that defied security checkpoints and a vehicle ban that forced many to walk for hours to the heart of the capital.

It was the second Friday in a row of Iraqi demonstrations -- a show of force that has unnerved officials worried that the turmoil in the rest of the region is spreading here. [...]

Iraqi security forces around the country clashed last Friday with protesters in the most widespread and violent demonstrations the country has seen since a wave of unrest began spreading across the Middle East. [...]

Protesters chant anti-government slogans during a demonstration in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, March 4, 2011. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

Iraqi security forces close a bridge leading to the heavily guarded Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, March 4, 2011. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)