U.S. marines in the city of Kut near the Iranian border are suppressing anti-American protests by threatening to open fire on the crowds. The Washington Post reports marines yesterday arrested a prominent cleric upon finding a gun in his car. Hundreds of people converged on a contingent of marines and protested. The marines threatened over a loudspeaker to open fire, and the crowd dispersed. A few hours later, a few hundred young men staged a spontaneous human blockade on both sides of a narrow bridge over the Tigris River, trapping several Marine trucks for about half an hour. Meanwhile, the Marines have still not dared to enter the mayor’s office. Shiite Muslim preacher Sayed Abbas Fadhil has proclaimed himself the new mayor and has welcomed into the mayoral compound several hundred young men who are vowing to defend him if the Marines try to remove him by force.