Nassiriyah (AsiaNews) "The Italian soldiers are much loved by the people of Nassiriyah. Triggering the violent incidents were people from the outside, to be exact, from Falluja and the western part of the country," said lay Shiite leader Wael Al-Rukadi from Nassiriya in an interview with AsiaNews.
In the interview, to be published in its full version tomorrow, the Shiite leader, a member of the Democratic Group of Iraqi Tribes, outlines the revolt of Muqtada Al Sadr's Al-Mahdi group.
"These were actually people from Falluja who brought sophisticated weapons to the city" where the Italian contingent headquarters are located. Wael Al Rukadi praises the operations of the Italian Task Force and expresses anguish for the 11 Italian soldiers wounded in Nassiriyah: "The (Italian) soldiers never opened fire first nor did they act as the aggressors. They only defended themselves," said Wael.
Meanwhile in the city there is a 48 hour truce underway among local leaders. It was reached yesterday thanks to the efforts made by Barbara Contini, the civil governor of Nassiriyah.
Moreover, Wael said that "the local population, is favor of returning to stability" and the disarmament of those who shouldn't be in possession of weapons.
"A withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq at this time would lead to an all-out civil war", he concluded. (PB)
