"Our silence won't last. The day our scholars tell us to fight, the Iraqi people, Sunnis and Shiites united will rise in arms," vowed Iraqi worshippers

BAGHDAD, April 25 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The Iraqi people should stand united and put aside their religious and sectarian divisions in this crucial time, Imam of Baghdad’s main mosque said Friday, April 25, as thousands of worshippers vowed to launch Jihad if the occupation troops did not pull out of the country.

"Let's say no to America, no to the occupation. We won't replace one tyrant with another," Sheikh Moayyad Ibrahim al-Azhami told worshippers before the Friday prayers at Baghdad's Abu Hanifah mosque.

"We don't want a U.S.-imposed peace, we want a united Muslim society with Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds living together in peace and justice," he said.

"Baghdad has not been silenced," Sheikh Moayyad told worshippers.

"The enemies have always bet on the lack of this unity. But they were disappointed by the cohesion of the Iraqis," he contended.

Many analysts and observers of the Iraqi situation had feared that the collapse of Saddam Hussein, a member of the country’s Sunni minority, would trigger disputes with the Shiite majority, long oppressed under the former regime.

The Imam’s sermon echoed rising sentiments against the foreign occupation as was clearly seen in Shiite protests over the last few days in which thousands of people called for "a national and an independent country."

“Here For Oil”

The worshippers showed no so different feelings, as they suffered weeks of pillaging following the fall of the capital which continued at a rising pace in front of the eyes of the U.S. Marines who only pushed to defend the Oil Ministry and ignored appeals to protect other buildings including the country’s National Museum.

"We are running out of patience with the Americans here. They won't leave because they are after our oil, water and land. They also want to settle here to protect Israel," charged one worshipper after the prayers.

Many Iraqis felt infuriated when the U.S. forces put retired U.S. Army general lieutenant Jay Garner as the civil administrator of the country, and were not swayed by Washington’s promises to turn over administration to an Iraqi interim administration as soon as peace and security are restored.

U.S. President George W. Bush said the coalition forces would stay in Iraq as long as two years in the least to stabilize the situation there.

"But they're wrong to believe they'll succeed and that we'll stay silent. We were waiting for a fatwa (religious decree) from our religious scholars to fight back,"  thundered another worshippers.

"They don't respect anything, not our land, not our people. They even shelled this mosque," said a third.

"We're keeping quiet just because our scholars asked us to."

The mosque, in Baghdad's northern Al-Azhamieh neighbourhood, was shelled by U.S. forces on April 9 during fierce fighting with Iraqi fighters after reports that Saddam was spotted in the area, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

Last week, around 10,000 marchers gathered outside the mosque to protest the U.S. presence.

Banners on the mosque's wall read "Pull out tanks, don't provoke people" and "No to Shiism, no Sunnism, yes to Islamic unity."

"The Americans came here to liberate us from Saddam, it's fine, but now what? There is no security, no electricity and chaos has taken over," said Ibrahim, another worshipper.

"Our silence won't last. The day our scholars tell us to fight, the Iraqi people, Sunnis and Shiites united will rise in arms," he vowed.

"We have weapons, we will blow ourselves up like the Palestinians," shouted another man.

Outsiders Unaccepted

The worshippers also said a government of Iraqi exiles imposed by the United States was unacceptable.

"Who are these people from outside? A five-star opposition made in the USA," charge Saber al-Alami.

"We have capable people inside Iraq; they will make themselves known when the time is ripe," said Ala Hussein, declining, however, to name anybody in Iraq's indigenous opposition.

"Forget demonstrations, it doesn't work. We will be forced to fight if our will as Iraqis is not respected," he added.

It was the second Friday prayers since the U.S. occupation forces drove into Baghdad and declared the downfall of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

In the first Friday prayers, imams of the capital’s hundreds of mosques warned against the installation of a U.S.-styled democracy in the predominantly Muslim state.

The masses poured out of the mosque, carrying copies of the holy Koran and waving banners that read "No to America, No to Secular state. Yes to Islamic State."

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Shiite Muslims took the media and the U.S. military completely by surprise on Monday, April 22, when they converged from the north and south on the Palestine Hotel to denounce the U.S. forces.