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BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi Shiite Muslims have demonstrated against the king of Bahrain. They are demanding that he be banned from attending this month’s Arab League summit meeting in Baghdad.
About 2,000 Shiite protesters, followers of hard-line cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, on Friday came out in support of Bahrain’s Shiite majority, which is demanding more rights from Sunni King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
Iraq’s support for Bahrain’s Shiites has angered Sunni Gulf states. That was one of the reasons the League canceled plans to hold its summit in Baghdad last year.
The protesters also complained that Syrian President Bashar Assad was not invited. His Alawite religion is an offshoot of Shiite Islam.
Syria has been suspended from the Arab League because of Assad’s brutal crackdown on protesters.
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