Fears of a religious war between Iraqâs Sunni and Shiite communities were palpable yesterday as hundreds of worshipers, some of them armed, gathered at a Baghdad mosque to pay tribute to a slain cleric. Dozens of guards, their faces wrapped in headscarves, and a US military team stood tense watch, as worshipers were searched at the entrance to the Findi Al-Kubaiysi mosque, its wall scarred with bullet and shrapnel marks. US officials say Imam Ali Hussein Hassan Al-Obedi was gunned down on a nearby street Monday by four men in a brown BMW vehicle. No clear leads have emerged from the investigation so far.
But people who came yesterday to the Sunni mosque to pay their respects in this predominantly Shiite quarter of Shorta Al-Hamsi spoke of a campaign by foreigners to covertly ignite a civil war between the two communities. One worshiper was gunned down in his home near the mosque on Wednesday. On Thursday, a security guard was killed when a grenade was tossed toward the entrance from a passing car, people here said. They said another imam in the district was also attacked and injured and that two members of his family were shot dead. On Feb. 21, men assassinated a Sunni cleric from a nearby mosque at his home. âThey want to spark a civil war,â said an official from Iraqâs US-appointed Governing Council, but he was certain âtheyâ were not Shiites, or even Iraqis.
| Maybe the Indos are right. It's sure starting to sound like Pakland. Wonder if they're opening local branches of Lashkar e-Jhangvi? |
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