"We ask the international community to use all means to put pressure on the Zionist regime to stop the savage attacks," Iraq's supreme Shiite religious authority Ali Husseini al-Sistani told worshippers.

"We ask the humanitarian organisations to support Gazans by providing them with the needed aid," Sheikh Abdul Mahdi al-Karbalai said during prayers in the holy city of Karbala, as both Shiite and Sunni clerics denounced the raids.

Israel's onslaught, which has killed at least 422 Palestinians in seven days of relentless bombing, was branded "shameless aggression" by Moqtada al-Sadr, the firebrand anti-US Shiite cleric and head of the powerful Sadr movement.

"All the international and humanitarian organisations have to make a united stand to put an end to this shameless Zionist terrorist aggression," Sadr said in a statement read to Friday prayer worshippers in Sadr city in western Baghdad.

He also asked Iraqis to come forward with medical and food donations.

After the prayer meeting, worshippers burned the Israeli flag and chanted: "No, No, to Israel," and "No No, to America."

"Gaza is now witnessing genocide and a real Holocaust," Friday prayer leader Sheikh Mohammed al-Jaburi told his congregation in the Sunni-dominated northern city of Mosul.

The Iraqi government on Saturday condemned the Israeli air raids, saying they left behind "many victims -- innocent people and children."

The government earlier this week pledged to send a planeload of food and medicine to the Gaza Strip.

earlier related report
12 hurt as Kashmiris condemn Israeli attacks on Gaza
More than a dozen people were hurt Friday when Indian police used teargas to disperse hundreds of angry Kashmiri Muslims protesting against the Israeli attacks on Gaza.

The protesters took to the streets outside the main mosque in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, after Friday prayers, chanting "down with Israel."

They carried banners reading "stop genocide of Palestinians" and "US, Israel don't provoke Muslims to become terrorists like you."

As the protesters tried to march towards the city centre, police used batons and fired teargas to disperse them. Protesters retaliated by pelting the security forces with stones.

"More than a dozen people, including some policemen, have been injured so far," a police officer, Ishfaq Ahmed said.

The marchers set fire to US flags.

Earlier, hundreds of Muslims burnt Israeli flags and chanted anti-Israel and anti-US slogans as they staged a similar protest near Srinagar's main commercial district of Lal Chowk.

Carrying pro-Palestinian banners and portraits of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, they marched through the streets chanting, "death to Israel" and "death to US."

"Look how they are killing Muslims and no one seems to be bothered," said Akbar Ali, one of the protesters.

Kashmir is in the grip of a nearly two-decade old insurgency against Indian rule that has so far left more than 47,000 people dead by official count.

At least 420 Palestinians have died in a seven day blitz by Israel, while rockets fired from Gaza have claimed four Israeli lives.

Israel on Wednesday rejected a French proposal for a 48-hour ceasefire to help humanitarian efforts, and tanks and troops are now massed for a threatened ground offensive.

Hamas has called for a "day of wrath" on Friday in east Jerusalem and the West Bank, with "massive marches" after weekly Muslim prayers.

Share This Article With Planet Earth

del.icio.us	Digg	Reddit
YahooMyWeb	Google	Facebook

Related Links

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News