BAGHDAD - Thousands of Iraqis gathered at several Sunni Muslim mosques in Baghdad on Friday for weekly prayers and sermons marked by anger and frustration at the US-led assault on the insurgent city of Fallujah.
At Umm al-Qura mosque rows of brightly-coloured carpets were laid out in the parking lot as thousands of people flocked to the gated, sprawling edifice on the western side of Baghdad.
A large Iraqi flag was pinned over the mosque's main entrance.
Young bearded men handed out statements, leaflets and a newspaper issued by the influential Sunni Committee of Muslim Scholars, which is based at the mosque, all condemning the joint US-Iraqi operation in Fallujah which started on Monday.
The paper's back page carried a collage of photos from the battle in Fallujah under the title "Fallujah will resist".
"America may take over Fallujah, but be certain the wombs of the women of Fallujah and all of Iraq will deliver thousands, tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of heroes," Sheikh Mohammed Bashar al-Faidi told the masses as they screamed "Allahu Akbar! (God is Greatest)" in a show of defiance.
"All of Iraq will turn in the next few days into one Fallujah whether America likes it or not," added the white-turbaned sheikh.
He said the government's contention that it was cleansing Fallujah of terrorists ahead of January elections was a sham, adding that any vote under the presence of US-led forces would be illegitimate and would only cement the position and interests of the United States in Iraq.
"If you accept elections and sell your country to the occupation then you have no one to blame but yourselves," said the sheikh.
The committee has urged Iraqis to boycott the vote and has said that nearly 80 of its clerics have been arrested by US troops for "daring to describe US forces as occupiers, in their sermons."
After prayers, the faithful chanted slogans praising insurgents in Fallujah and condemning the government of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi for authorising the assault on Fallujah, dubbed Operation Al-Fajr (Dawn).
Some of the crowd started crying when another official from the committee took to the podium and spoke of the suffering of the Fallujah people and the impossibility of delivering aid to them.
A similar scene of frustration and anger occurred at Abu Hanifa mosque in the capital's predominantly Sunni Adhamiya district to the north.
"What will you tell God on judgement day when someone points the finger at you and says he took part in killing me," asked Sheikh Ahmed al-Samarrai in his sermon, referring to Allawi and his decision to authorise the Fallujah operation.
After prayers several thousand people gathered outside the mosque, chanting and holding anti-Allawi banners.
"Dawn will come when Allawi falls," read one banner.
As they marched towards Antar Square they were met by US and Iraqi forces who blocked access beyond the area.
At the Al-Jilani mosque in the city centre, Sheikh Mahmoud al-Isawi said the battle of Fallujah was against all Muslims.
"The start of this war during the holiest nights of the month of Ramadan proves how much they hate Islam and Muslims," he said.
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