Iraqis march in salute to U.S.

From combined dispatches

BAGHDAD — Up to 1,000 Iraqis, including children orphaned by the war that ousted Saddam Hussein, marched through Baghdad yesterday to denounce guerrilla attacks and show support for U.S.-led occupation forces.

The demonstration took place even as top U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer warned that attacks against coalition forces will likely escalate over the next few months as the occupation authority prepares for a transfer of sovereignty to a new Iraqi government.

Carrying banners blaming Saddam loyalists for terrorism, the demonstrators marched down one of Baghdad’s busiest streets before gathering in Firdos Square, where a statue of Saddam was famously pulled down as U.S. troops drove into the heart of the capital in April.

“We organized this demonstration because the terrorists now kill a lot of people,” said Abdul Aziz Al-Yassiri, coordinator of the Iraqi Democratic Trend, a recently formed social group.

“They kill the children, kill women, kill the people, kill the police. They want to stop our plan for a democratic system.”

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, without advance public notice, flew into northern Iraq early todaySat#, landing in the heart of the country’s northern oil fields.

Mr. Rumsfeld’s Air Force C-17 cargo plane flew to the city of Kirkuk from Tblisi, Georgia, where he told that country’s leaders that the United States supports Georgia’s independence.

It was the second time in four months that Mr. Rumsfeld has visited Iraq, but his first to Kirkuk, the center of Iraq’s northern oil industry.

The trip was kept under wraps to minimize the risk of attack by Iraqi insurgents. Officials said Mr. Rumsfeld wanted to gauge for himself the progress being made to stabilize the country.

The Baghdad march was the second time in two weeks that Iraqi demonstrators gathered in significant numbers to back U.S. attempts to rebuild the country and denounce guerrilla activities. Another march is planned for Friday, a Muslim holy day.

Most of those who marched were Shi’ite Muslims, who make up about 60 percent of Iraq’s population but were discriminated against under Saddam, a Sunni.

Several dozen youngsters holding flowers marched at the head of the demonstration while women accompanying them held up placards reading “Terrorism blocks the future for children” and “Children — innocent victims of terror.”

Mr. Bremer told the Associated Press that former members of Saddam’s intelligence agencies were now assuming an increasingly prominent role in the insurgency. He predicted an upsurge in attacks in coming months.

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