Ca muslimanesh "te vertete" keta terrorristat irakiane.
Tani po hedhin dhe xhamira ne ere.
Friday, August 29, 2003
NAJAF,Iraq A Friday morning Iraqi prayer service was rocked by a deadly car bomb (search) that reportedly killed at least 17 people, among them Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim (search), one of the region's most respected Shiite (search) clerics.
Al-Hakim, 64, and scores of others were attending services at the Imam Ali mosque (search) in the town of Najaf when the bomb exploded, leaving a hole in front of the mosque of about 3 feet and continuing a trend of escalating violence in the town, a holy city 110 miles southwest of Baghdad.
The Associated Press confirmed four deaths. The Dubai-based al-Arabiya network reported 17 dead, and unconfirmed reports had higher death tolls. Dozens of others were also reported injured.
"The bombing today shows again that the enemies of the new Iraq will stop at nothing," said L. Paul Bremer, the top U.S. civil administrator in Iraq. "Again, they have violated one of Islam's most sacred places."
The blast came one week after a bomb exploded outside the house of another of Iraq's most important Shiite clerics, killing three guards and injuring 10 others, including family members.
The gas cylinder was placed along the outside wall of the home of Mohammed Saeed al-Hakim in Najaf. It exploded just after noon prayers Aug. 24. Mohammed Saeed al-Hakim is related to the ayatollah who may have been the target of Friday's attack.
Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim, a Governing Council member, was leader of the armed wing of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, headquartered in Iran before the war. Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, his brother, was the leader of the organization and had been dividing his time between Tehran and Najaf.
The Al-Hakims are one of the most influential families in the Shiite community in Iraq.
Iraqi newspapers reported two weeks ago that the Mohammed Saeed al-Hakim had received threats against his life. He also is one of three top Shiite leaders threatened with death by a rival Shiite cleric shortly after Saddam Hussein was toppled April 9.
A day after Saddam's ouster, a mob in Najaf hacked to death a Shiite cleric who had returned from exile. Abdul Majid al-Khoei was killed when a meeting called to reconcile rival Shiite groups erupted into a melee.
Shiites make up some 60 percent of Iraq's 24 million people.
"I saw al-Hakim walk out of the shrine after his sermon and moments later, there was a massive explosion. There were many dead bodies," said Abdul Amir Jassem, a 40-year-old merchant who was in the mosque and said the cleric had prayed for Iraqi unity.
Ayatollah al-Hakim was the spiritual leader of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq and had divided his time since the end of the war between Tehran and Najaf, the holiest Shiite Muslim city in Iraq.
Mohsen Hakim, another of the cleric's nephews and a spokesman for the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution of Iraq, said in Tehran that Saddam loyalists were the prime suspects behind the killing, and he called on the U.S. occupation forces to identify the murderers.
Ahmad Chalabi, the head of the Iraqi National Congress and a Governing Council member, blamed U.S. forces for not keeping the region secure. Speaking on Al-Jazeera, he also said Saddam supporters were behind it and they were trying to create sectarian discord in the country.
No coalition troops were in the area of the mosque out of respect for the holy site, Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Jim Cassella said in Washington.
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