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Retaliation on sunnis after deliberate sectarian attempt Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
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Sunnis Hit After Shiite Shrine Blast
Bombs Heavily Damage One of Iraq's Most Revered Shiite Shrines, Trigger Attacks on Sunni Mosques
By ZIAD KHALAF
The Associated Press
SAMARRA, Iraq Feb 22, 2006 (AP)—
SAMARRA, Iraq - Assailants wearing uniforms detonated two bombs inside one of Iraq's most revered Shiite shrines Wednesday, blowing the top off its landmark golden dome and spawning mass protests and reprisal attacks against dozens of Sunni mosques.
The brazen assault the third major attack against Shiite targets in as many days threatened to enflame religious passions as talks among sectarian and ethnic parties on a new government have bogged down.
No group claimed responsibility for the 6:55 a.m. attack on the Askariya shrine in Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, but suspicion fell on Sunni extremist groups.
A Shiite political leader and many demonstrators also blamed the United States and its criticism of Shiite-led security forces that have been blamed for alleged abuses against Sunnis.
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and the top American commander in Iraq called the bombings a deliberate attempt to foment sectarian strife and warned it was a "critical moment for Iraq." They also promised the U.S. would contribute to the shrine's reconstruction.
"Given the historic, cultural, and religious importance of this shrine, this attack is a crime against humanity," Khalilzad and Gen. George Casey said in a joint statement.
Shiite leaders called for calm, but militants attacked Sunni mosques and a gunfight broke out between Shiite militiamen and guards at the offices of a Sunni political party in Basra. About 500 soldiers were sent to Sunni neighborhoods in Baghdad to prevent clashes between the sects, army Capt. Jassim al-Wahash said.
Shiite spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani sent instructions to his followers forbidding attacks on Sunni mosques, especially the major ones in Baghdad. He called for seven days of mourning, his aides said.
The Iraqi Islamic Party, the country's largest Sunni political group, said at least 60 mosques were attacked, burned or taken over by Shiites. A leading Sunni politician, Tariq al-Hashimi, urged clerics and politicians to calm the situation "before it spins out of control."
A government statement said "several suspects" had been detained in the attack on the mosque in Samarra.
The Askariya shrine contains the tombs of two revered Shiite imams, descendants of the Prophet Muhammad who are considered by Shiites to be among his successors.
The Interior Ministry said four men, one wearing a military uniform and three clad in black, entered the mosque and detonated two bombs, one of which collapsed the dome into a crumbly mess, leaving just traces of gold showing through the rubble.
Part of the shrine's tiled northern wall also was damaged.
Police said Wednesday afternoon no casualties had been found as Iraqis picked through the debris, pulling out artifacts.
U.S. and Iraqi forces surrounded the shrine and searched nearby houses. Five police officers responsible for protecting the mosque were taken into custody, said Col. Bashar Abdullah, chief of police commandos.
Demonstrators then gathered near the shrine, waving Iraqi flags, Shiite religious banners and copies of the Muslim holy book, the Quran.
"This criminal act aims at igniting civil strife," said Mahmoud al-Samarie, a 28-year-old builder. "We demand an investigation so that the criminals who did this be punished. If the government fails to do so, then we will take up arms and chase the people behind this attack."
Religious leaders at other mosques and shrines throughout the city denounced the attack in statements read over loudspeakers.
In Baghdad, National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie blamed religious zealots such as al-Qaida, telling Al-Arabiya television the attack was an attempt "to pull Iraq toward civil war."
Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, head of the Shiite Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, said the U.S. shared the blame, citing a statement by Khalilzad that America would not continue to support institutions run by sectarian groups with links to armed militias.
"These statements were the reason for more pressure and gave green lights to terrorist groups. And, therefore, he shares in part of the responsibility," al-Hakim said.
Commandos under Interior Minister Bayan Jabr, a member of al-Hakim's party, have been accused by Sunni Arabs of widespread human rights abuses against Sunni civilians.
The U.S. officials urged Iraqis to avoid sectarian strife.
"This desperate and despicable act shows that terrorists stop at nothing and care for nothing," Khalilzad and Casey said. "Coming together in unity to condemn this barbaric act and working for Iraq's salvation will be the right response."
Major Sunni groups joined in the condemning the attack. The Sunni clerical Association of Muslim Scholars called the bombing a "criminal act," while the Sunni Endowment, a government organization that cares for Sunni mosques and shrines, said it was sending a delegation to Samarra to investigate what happened.
Shiite leaders in surrounding countries, including Iran's most influential cleric body, the Qom Shiite Seminary, also responded quickly.
Large protests erupted in Shiite parts of Baghdad and in cities throughout the Shiite heartland to the south.
In Basra, Shiite militants traded rifle and rocket-propelled grenade fire with guards at the office of the Sunni-led Iraqi Islamic Party. Smoke billowed from the building.
Shiite protesters later set fire to a Sunni shrine containing the seventh century tomb of Talha bin Obeid-Allah, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad, on the outskirts of the southern city, but there was no immediate word on the extent of the damage or any casualties.
Protesters in Najaf, Kut and Baghdad's Shiite slum of Sadr City also marched through the streets by the hundreds and thousands, many shouting anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans and burning those nations' flags.
Elsewhere in the capital, about 40 Shiite militiamen sprayed a Sunni mosque in eastern Baghdad with automatic fire.
Gunmen in a speeding car shot and killed Sunni cleric Sheik Khalil al-Dulaimi as he was entering the al-Rashidi mosque in eastern Baghdad, the Iraqi army said. A street vendor was killed in another mosque attack.
Radical Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr cut short a visit to Lebanon and left by road for Syria, where he was expected to travel back to Iraq, Lebanese officials said.
President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, said the attack was designed to sabotage talks on a government of national unity following the Dec. 15 parliamentary election and he warned extremists are pushing Iraq toward civil war.
"We are facing a major conspiracy that is targeting Iraq's unity," Talabani said when he received a delegation from Salahuddin province, which includes Samarra. "We should all stand hand in hand to prevent the danger of a civil war."
Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shiite, urged all Iraqis to condemn the attack and called on both Muslim and Christian leaders abroad "to redouble their efforts to help the Iraqi government stop these saboteurs."
The shrine attack followed a devastating car bomb late Tuesday in a Shiite corner of Baghdad, killing 22 people, according to police. The day before, 12 died in a suicide attack on a bus in the capital's heavily Shiite district of Kazimiyah.
Tradition says the Askariya shrine, which draws Shiite pilgrims from throughout the Islamic world, is near the place where the last of the 12 Shiite imams, Mohammed al-Mahdi, disappeared. Al-Mahdi, known as the "hidden imam," was the son and grandson of the two imams buried in the Askariya shrine. Shiites believe he is still alive and will return to restore justice to humanity.
The golden dome was completed in 1905.
Samarra has been among the most difficult cities to pacify in the Sunni heartland. In 2004, the city fell under the control of extremists, and al-Qaida flags could be seen flying over some buildings in the city. U.S. forces regained control but the city remains tense.
In April, an explosion blew away part of a wall on top of another Samarra landmark, the spiral minaret from a ninth century mosque.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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