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Over 100 iraqis killed in sectarian violence { February 24 2006 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/02/24/MNGKLHE6QP1.DTLhttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/02/24/MNGKLHE6QP1.DTL
SECTARIAN VIOLENCE EXPLODES ACROSS IRAQ
MURDEROUS DAY: Over 100 Iraqis killed and dozens of Sunni mosques attacked in anger over destruction of Shiite shrine
- Jonathan Finer, Bassam Sebti, Washington Post
Friday, February 24, 2006
Baghdad -- Clashes between rival Muslim sects on Thursday killed more than 100 people across Iraq, including several Sunni Arab clerics, and left dozens of Sunni mosques in ruins or occupied by Shiite Muslim militias a day after bombers destroyed a revered Shiite shrine.
In the day's bloodiest attack, 47 people were forced from their vehicles by gunmen, who shot them dead and dumped their bodies in a ditch near Baquba, north of Baghdad. The victims included Sunnis and Shiites, many of whom were on their way to attend a protest against Wednesday's bombing in the city of the Samarra, according to Gen. Amir al-Jubouri, police chief in Diyala province.
Also in Baquba, eight Iraqi soldiers and eight civilians were killed when a bomb hidden in a soup vendor's cart detonated, police said.
The U.S. military announced Thursday the deaths of seven American soldiers in two roadside bomb attacks Wednesday near the northern town of Hawija.
The surge in violence, sparked by the destruction of Samarra's gold-domed Askariya shrine, comes at a time of political transition and uncertainty. Leaders of Iraq's largest factions are mired in negotiations over the composition of the next government.
Prospects for a political resolution suffered Thursday when Sunni Arab political leaders abruptly withdrew from talks with Iraq's Shiite ruling parties, blaming the police and army for failing to prevent retaliatory attacks -- and, in some cases, for participating in them.
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad spent the day talking to politicians, trying to urge calm and keep the political process on track.
Several clerics, politicians and other Iraqis said Thursday that relations between Sunnis and Shiites were at their most tense since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. The waves of vengeance have left both the majority Shiite and minority Sunni communities feeling victimized and deeply angry with each other -- and resentful of the United States, which has been laboring to ease animosity among Iraq's sects and coax the various ethnic and religious groups into a cooperative government.
"The Americans also abandoned us extremely. They could have put some of their vehicles to protect the mosques; they have the forces to do that," said Khalaf al-Hayan, general secretary of the Sunni Iraqi National Dialogue Council. "How does a civil war start? It starts like this."
In his press conference, al-Hayan called upon neighboring countries to send troops to protect Iraq's Sunnis from the Shiites and Americans.
The killings and assaults also have provoked questions about the proper role of the U.S. military, its ability to control powerful Shiite militias, whom many Iraqis blamed for the attacks on Sunnis, and the Bush administration's plans for drawing down troops.
U.S. commanders have said they hope to remove a significant portion of the 130,000 American troops here by the end of this year and that enough Iraqi soldiers and police officers could be trained by then to take over responsibility for security in many areas. Yet Iraqi security forces did little to contain the day's violence. In at least one case in Baghdad, Iraqi witnesses said that police actually joined in attacking a mosque.
Long ruled by its Sunni Arab minority, Iraq has experienced a fundamental political shift since the fall of Saddam Hussein's government. The Shiite majority, repressed during Hussein's rule, has garnered the most votes in two successive elections, giving Shiite parties control of the country's security forces. At the same time, Sunni Arabs have bridled at their loss of influence, initially rejecting the new political system, but recently moving -- with American encouragement -- to join the process.
Sectarian violence has flared sporadically since Hussein's fall, intensifying since the middle of last year. Sunni feelings of being marginalized have helped fuel the continuing insurgency.
"Civil war will become a reality if we allow the extremists on both sides to take the reins in their hands and direct the others," said Husham Hussein, 29, a Sunni who works as a trader in the Baghdad neighborhood of Mansour. "But I hope we will have enough sense to avert that."
"The young people are very uptight. There is a fire smoldering in them under the ash," said Abbas Ridha al-Zubaidi, imam of a Shiite mosque in Karrada, a predominantly Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad. He said that after the Samarra bombing, a group of youths from the neighborhood came to him and asked if they could attack nearby Sunni mosques. "I told them it was forbidden," he said.
Late Thursday night, the government announced a curfew in four provinces -- Baghdad, Salahuddin, Diyala and Babil -- until at least 4 p.m. today, banning people from the streets on a day when millions nationwide normally attend weekly prayer services. In all provinces, a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. was already in effect.
The Sunni clerical Association of Muslim Scholars said at least 168 Sunni mosques had been attacked, 10 imams killed and 15 abducted since the shrine attack. The Interior Ministry said it could only confirm figures for Baghdad, where it had reports of 19 mosques attacked, one cleric killed and one abducted.
Workers at two U.S.-funded water treatment projects in Baghdad were told to stay home Thursday to avoid trouble. American officials also ordered a lockdown in some locations within the Green Zone, home of U.S. and Iraqi government offices, after two or three mortar shells exploded, causing no casualties.
Mixed among pleas for calm by religious and political leaders were inflammatory accusations and thinly veiled calls to arms.
"The situation is still intense, especially after the miserable and ashamed reaction of the government's security forces, which were as usual either audience or participant," said Tariq al-Hashimi, a leader of the Iraqi Accordance Front, a coalition of Sunni parties.
The Sunni bloc, which said more than 100 mosques had been damaged in attacks or occupied by Shiite militias after the Samarra bombing, declined to attend political talks scheduled for Thursday morning, and led by President Jalal Talabani, aimed at stopping the violence. The Sunnis angered participants by sending a list of written demands that they said must be met before they would return to negotiations on a new government, according to officials in attendance.
Thousands attended peaceful demonstrations against the Samarra bombing in the Shiite-majority southern city of Najaf and the diverse northern city of Kirkuk.
Baghdad was largely quiet on the first day of a government-declared mourning period to mark the destruction of the Samarra shrine, with shops shuttered and only light traffic on the streets. Several residents said they were stocking up on food and other supplies, and few women or children were seen outdoors -- often a sign that people are braced for potential violence.
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Major acts of violence
Samarra: The bodies of three Sunni journalists shot Wednesday were found. (Story on Page A14)
Hawija: The U.S. military announced the deaths of seven soldiers near Hawija on Wednesday from roadside bombs.
Baquba: Gunmen killed 47 civilians and left bodies in a ditch; eight Iraqi soldiers and eight civilians were killed by a bomb.
Sources: Associated Press, ESRI
Chronicle news services contributed to this report.
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