WASHINGTON, July 26, 2006
Heckler Disrupts Iraq PM's Speech
Female Member Of Code Pink Shouted 'Listen To The Iraqis'
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Play CBS Video Video Al-Maliki's Speech Disrupted CBS News RAW: The Iraqi prime minister's speech was interrupted by Medea Benjamin of the anti-war group Code Pink, who shouted, "Iraqis want the troops to leave; bring them home now."
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Capitol police remove Medea Benjamin from the House gallery after she disrupted a speech by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Capitol on July 26, 2006, as the prime minister addressed a joint meeting of Congress. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook)
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At a joint meeting of Congress, Nouri al-Maliki was insisting that Iraq remains on the front line against terrorism, when a demonstrator began shouting, "Iraqis want the troops to leave" and "Bring them home now."
Al-Maliki paused and grimaced while the young woman was lifted from her seat and carried by officers from the House visitor's gallery.
Dressed in a pink T-shirt that read, "Troops Home Now," the woman repeatedly called back, "Listen to the Iraqis."
Al-Maliki's speech continued, with a petition for sustained U.S. support. The prime minister said the U.S. and Iraq "need each other."
CBS News' Phil Hirschkorn reports that the heckler is Medea Benjamin of Code Pink. According to the organization's Web site, Code Pink is a "women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end the war in Iraq." Benjamin has been arrested many times, Hirschkorn reports, including previously at the Republican National Convention in New York in 2004 and during at least one Congressional hearing.
©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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