Sunni-Shi’ite unrest, culminating in a call for foreign jihadists to leave Iraq. From Reuters, with thanks to RB:
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Thousands of Iraqi Shi’ites protested on Monday after hearing reports that relatives of a Jordanian suicide bomber suspected of killing 125 people in the town of Hilla celebrated him as a martyr.
After breaking into the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad and tearing down the flag, protesters called on all foreign Arabs to leave the country and denounced Jordan’s King Abdullah.
Anti-Jordanian sentiment has been spreading since Iraqis read newspaper reports that Jordan’s Raid al-Banna blew himself up beside people lining up for jobs in the Shi’ite town of Hilla last month in the single bloodiest attack in postwar Iraq.
Al Qaeda’s wing in Iraq, led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claimed responsibility for the blast.
The Iraqi government said in a statement it strongly condemns “the expressions of joy” exhibited by the family of Banna, who it described as a terrorist.
“Prime Minister Iyad Allawi spoke to the prime minister of Jordan personally today and asked him for a clear answer regarding the family’s activities as the reports are affecting relations between the Iraqi and Jordanian people,” it said….
Hundreds protested in Baghdad and thousands took to the streets of Najaf, spiritual home of the Shi’ites….