.Sunni mosques attacked day after Shiite bloodbath
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Gunmen attacked three Sunni mosques in Baghdad Friday in apparent revenge for the bloody assault in the capital's Shiite bastion of Sadr City a day earlier.
The retaliation came as anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's bloc threatened to withdraw support for Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki should he meet President Bush as planned next week.
Such a move could jeopardize the stability of al-Maliki's administration, which has relied on the support of both the United States and his fellow Shiites. (Watch as all-out civil war threatens to overtake Iraq -- 3:20)
The White House said the talks would go forward. Al-Maliki's office has not responded to the threat.
Meanwhile, the head of al-Sadr's bloc in parliament -- Falah Hassan Shnashel -- said that U.S. and Iraqi forces, backed by helicopters, swept into Sadr City on Friday.
The U.S. military said it is checking reports of an exchange of fire between troops and militia members.
Two of the Sunni mosques attacked Friday are in Hurriya, a majority-Shiite neighborhood in northwestern Baghdad. People tried to put out a fire at the Nida Allah Mosque, but gunmen stopped them, police said. Gunmen with rocket-propelled grenades struck another mosque in the area, witnesses said.
Gunmen also reportedly caused minor damage at a Sunni mosque in the Sunni neighborhood of Jihad.
In the last 24-hour period, two Sunni Arab neighborhoods -- Ghazaliya and Adhamiya -- withstood a barrage of mortar fire that wounded 10 people.
The violence follows what's considered the worst attack of the Iraq war, coordinated bombings and mortar fire that killed more than 200 and wounded more 250 Thursday in Sadr City. (Full story)
It is widely assumed that Sunni militants were responsible for the attacks on the Shiite stronghold. U.S. commanders suspect al-Sadr's militia, the Mehdi Army, has been responsible for sectarian violence against Sunnis, although the cleric has denounced such attacks.
Political threat
The attacks on the heart of Sadr City threaten to bring Iraq to the brink of all-out civil war, a process that has escalated since the February bombing of a revered Shiite shrine in Samarra, north of Baghdad. Since then, thousands have fled their homes for other neighborhoods and countries in the face of Sunni-Shiite vendettas.
Thousands more have been slain. Sectarian violence has left its imprint with the daily discovery of tortured bodies around the capital despite U.S. and Iraqi military efforts to stem the brutality.
In a statement that aired on Iraqi TV, al-Sadr representative Salih al-Akeili blamed U.S.-led forces for fostering conditions that led to the massacre Thursday in Sadr City.
"We announce that if the security situation and the basic services do not improve, and if the prime minister goes ahead and meets with the criminal Bush in Amman, then we will suspend our memberships with the Iraqi parliament and the government," he said.
The Sadr City bloodbath follow weeks of U.S.-Iraqi operations there to rescue a kidnapped U.S. soldier. Police said one of the raids Thursday killed four civilians.
Al-Akeili said his bloc -- with 30 seats in the 275-member parliament -- is demanding an end to the occupation and a withdrawal from Iraq, with a timetable for such a departure.
He also uttered a common chant heard on the streets of Baghdad: "No, no to America. Yes, yes to Islam."
Religious challenge
Meanwhile, al-Sadr challenged a top Sunni leader -- Sheikh Hareth al-Dhari, the head of the Association of Muslim Scholars -- to take steps to end the violence, including the issuance of fatwas, or Islamic decrees.
Speaking in the southern city of Kufa, near Najaf, during prayers Friday, al-Sadr said one fatwa should "prohibit the killing of all Shiite Muslims because this will save the blood of Muslims in Iraq."
Another should prohibit people from joining al Qaeda or any party "harboring hatred against the descendants of the Prophet Mohammed."
"We condemn and denounce the blasts," he said.
Police called the strikes the worst since the war began in 2003. The Iraqi Interior Ministry imposed a curfew for Baghdad on Thursday evening. It's unclear how long the curfew will last. Baghdad International Airport also was closed till further notice.
The bloodshed drew a strong denunciation from the United States.
"We condemn such acts of violence that are clearly aimed at undermining the Iraqi people's hopes for a peaceful and stable Iraq," said deputy White House spokesman Scott Stanzel.
"The United States is committed to helping the Iraqis and President Bush and Prime Minister [al-]Maliki will meet next week to discuss the security situation in Iraq."
Meanwhile, police reported a U.S. raid on al-Sadr's office in Baquba, a provincial capital northeast of Baghdad. Five people were detained, and weapons were seized. The U.S. military said it was checking the report.
Other violence
Also Friday, a suicide bomber killed 22 and wounded 30 after detonating explosives strapped to his body and in a car in the northern city of Tal Afar, authorities said.
The attacker parked his vehicle, got out and set off the car bomb in a car lot before detonating himself, police said. Tal Afar, a largely Turkmen city in Nineveh province, is about 250 miles (400 kilometers) north of Baghdad. Tal Afar has endured Sunni-Shiite sectarian fighting in the past, but it isn't clear what the motive was for Friday's attack.
In the southern city of Basra, a British soldier was shot dead Friday during a "search and detention operation," the British Defense Ministry said. The number of British military deaths in the Iraq war stands at 126.
SI
The retaliation came as anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's bloc threatened to withdraw support for Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki should he meet President Bush as planned next week.
Such a move could jeopardize the stability of al-Maliki's administration, which has relied on the support of both the United States and his fellow Shiites. (Watch as all-out civil war threatens to overtake Iraq -- 3:20)
The White House said the talks would go forward. Al-Maliki's office has not responded to the threat.
Meanwhile, the head of al-Sadr's bloc in parliament -- Falah Hassan Shnashel -- said that U.S. and Iraqi forces, backed by helicopters, swept into Sadr City on Friday.
The U.S. military said it is checking reports of an exchange of fire between troops and militia members.
Two of the Sunni mosques attacked Friday are in Hurriya, a majority-Shiite neighborhood in northwestern Baghdad. People tried to put out a fire at the Nida Allah Mosque, but gunmen stopped them, police said. Gunmen with rocket-propelled grenades struck another mosque in the area, witnesses said.
Gunmen also reportedly caused minor damage at a Sunni mosque in the Sunni neighborhood of Jihad.
In the last 24-hour period, two Sunni Arab neighborhoods -- Ghazaliya and Adhamiya -- withstood a barrage of mortar fire that wounded 10 people.
The violence follows what's considered the worst attack of the Iraq war, coordinated bombings and mortar fire that killed more than 200 and wounded more 250 Thursday in Sadr City. (Full story)
It is widely assumed that Sunni militants were responsible for the attacks on the Shiite stronghold. U.S. commanders suspect al-Sadr's militia, the Mehdi Army, has been responsible for sectarian violence against Sunnis, although the cleric has denounced such attacks.
Political threat
The attacks on the heart of Sadr City threaten to bring Iraq to the brink of all-out civil war, a process that has escalated since the February bombing of a revered Shiite shrine in Samarra, north of Baghdad. Since then, thousands have fled their homes for other neighborhoods and countries in the face of Sunni-Shiite vendettas.
Thousands more have been slain. Sectarian violence has left its imprint with the daily discovery of tortured bodies around the capital despite U.S. and Iraqi military efforts to stem the brutality.
In a statement that aired on Iraqi TV, al-Sadr representative Salih al-Akeili blamed U.S.-led forces for fostering conditions that led to the massacre Thursday in Sadr City.
"We announce that if the security situation and the basic services do not improve, and if the prime minister goes ahead and meets with the criminal Bush in Amman, then we will suspend our memberships with the Iraqi parliament and the government," he said.
The Sadr City bloodbath follow weeks of U.S.-Iraqi operations there to rescue a kidnapped U.S. soldier. Police said one of the raids Thursday killed four civilians.
Al-Akeili said his bloc -- with 30 seats in the 275-member parliament -- is demanding an end to the occupation and a withdrawal from Iraq, with a timetable for such a departure.
He also uttered a common chant heard on the streets of Baghdad: "No, no to America. Yes, yes to Islam."
Religious challenge
Meanwhile, al-Sadr challenged a top Sunni leader -- Sheikh Hareth al-Dhari, the head of the Association of Muslim Scholars -- to take steps to end the violence, including the issuance of fatwas, or Islamic decrees.
Speaking in the southern city of Kufa, near Najaf, during prayers Friday, al-Sadr said one fatwa should "prohibit the killing of all Shiite Muslims because this will save the blood of Muslims in Iraq."
Another should prohibit people from joining al Qaeda or any party "harboring hatred against the descendants of the Prophet Mohammed."
"We condemn and denounce the blasts," he said.
Police called the strikes the worst since the war began in 2003. The Iraqi Interior Ministry imposed a curfew for Baghdad on Thursday evening. It's unclear how long the curfew will last. Baghdad International Airport also was closed till further notice.
The bloodshed drew a strong denunciation from the United States.
"We condemn such acts of violence that are clearly aimed at undermining the Iraqi people's hopes for a peaceful and stable Iraq," said deputy White House spokesman Scott Stanzel.
"The United States is committed to helping the Iraqis and President Bush and Prime Minister [al-]Maliki will meet next week to discuss the security situation in Iraq."
Meanwhile, police reported a U.S. raid on al-Sadr's office in Baquba, a provincial capital northeast of Baghdad. Five people were detained, and weapons were seized. The U.S. military said it was checking the report.
Other violence
Also Friday, a suicide bomber killed 22 and wounded 30 after detonating explosives strapped to his body and in a car in the northern city of Tal Afar, authorities said.
The attacker parked his vehicle, got out and set off the car bomb in a car lot before detonating himself, police said. Tal Afar, a largely Turkmen city in Nineveh province, is about 250 miles (400 kilometers) north of Baghdad. Tal Afar has endured Sunni-Shiite sectarian fighting in the past, but it isn't clear what the motive was for Friday's attack.
In the southern city of Basra, a British soldier was shot dead Friday during a "search and detention operation," the British Defense Ministry said. The number of British military deaths in the Iraq war stands at 126.
SI
posted by madtom at 1:18 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home