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Saddamâs relative leading UK antiwar protest?
Rallying to the cry of 'no war'By Ian Cobain, Christopher Walker and Ben Hoyle THE United States is preparing for one of its largest military engagements since the Second World War. Britain, meanwhile, is expecting one of the biggest gatherings in London since VE Day. The crowds that will assemble on Saturday will not be celebrating the end of one conflict, but mounting a protest against the start of another. Organisers of the demonstration opposing war against Iraq say they are confident that at least 500,000 people will take part, and latest polls indicate no lack of support for the cause. ... The first seeds of the protest were sown at a meeting at the Friendsâ Meeting House, opposite Euston Station, ten days after the September 11 attacks. It led to the formation of the Stop the War Coalition, whose supporters include Tariq Ali, Louise Christian, lawyer to the Paddington rail crash families, and George Galloway, the Labour MP for Glasgow Kelvin. The Stop the War march has been organised by the coalition in conjunction with the Muslim Association of Britain, a five-year-old network offering spiritual and educational support, and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, which expects most of its 30,000 members to attend. The association is predicting a degree of Muslim involvement never before seen at a British popular protest. Anas Altikriti, a member of its executive, said: âOver the last few years (British Muslims) have realised that they canât afford to stay at home watching television and shaking their heads in disbelief. They have to come out and do something.â Altikriti or Al-tikriti is the original surname of Saddam Hussein, who comes from the town of Tikrit. So do most of the leaders of the regime. Saddam Hussein's half-brothers (former head of the Mukhabarat, former Director of Intelligence, and former Minister of the Interior) all still use the surname al-Tikriti, as do the secretary general of the Iraqi armed forces and most of the leaders of the "Special Security Organization". Is Anas Altikriti a relative of Saddam Hussein, a loyal member of the Tikriti group that leads Iraq, and/or an Iraqi government agent? While there is no additional evidence for these possibilities, the co-incidence seems quite striking. And it would be quite natural for a Saddam Hussein relative to be leading protests in favor of his clansman. Posted by: Matthew M 2003-02-13 |
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