Attack on Iraq mosque 'kills 25+'

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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At least 25 people have been killed and dozens injured in a suspected mortar attack on a mosque near the troubled city of Najaf, say hospital officials.

The compound of the mosque in Kufa was packed with people about to go to Najaf where Iraq’s top Shia cleric is headed to try to end the conflict there.

Later, gunmen opened fired on marchers going from Kufa to Najaf, reportedly killing at least three.

It is not known who is behind either of the attacks.

Accompanied by thousands of his supporters, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani is going to Najaf to try to end the stand-off involving Shia fighters led by a radical cleric, Moqtada Sadr.

The rebels have been battling US-led forces for three weeks.

Ayatollah Sistani was instrumental in brokering an earlier ceasefire between Mr Sadr’s fighters and US-led forces in the city.

Hussam al-Husseini, an aide to rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, told the Associated Press news agency that one mortar shell hit the mosque itself in Kufa, and two others landed near the gates of the compound.

He said another mosque in the city had also been hit by mortar rounds.

It is not clear who might have been responsible for the attack.

**US-led forces claim they have not carried out any operations in Kufa for 24 hours, CNN television reported. **

TV pictures showed dozens of wounded men lying on the ground amid pools of blood or being ferried to Kufa’s hospital.

Crowds of angry people are reported to have built up around the gates of the hospital where casualties were taken.

**In the other incident, witnesses said a crowd of 2,000-3,000 were forced back from a road-block on the main route to Najaf by heavy gunfire over their heads. **

Aides said the ayatollah’s proposals included weapons-free zones in both Najaf and Kufa - a stronghold of Moqtada Sadr - and the replacement of foreign troops by Iraqi police.

Helicopters hovered above the stream of vehicles headed to Najaf, while armed guards in sports utility vehicles protected the ayatollah.
Attack on Iraq mosque ‘kills 25’

Hmmm so the occupation by the US invaders continues to cause havoc and bloodshed in Iraq, The report says they don’t know who is behind these attacks it does’nt take einstein to work out the US is eager for there to be internal fighting between the iraqi factions so that the state of iraq can be divided into 3 sections.

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Iraq’s Sistani Arrives in Najaf; 45 Killed in Attacks
Thu Aug 26, 2004 07:56 AM ET

NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraq’s top Shi’ite cleric arrived in Najaf Thursday to try to end a bloody three-week uprising as tensions rose sharply following attacks in a nearby town that killed 45 people and wounded 170.

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani drove into the battered holy city of Najaf in a huge convoy, guarded by dozens of police pickups with their sirens wailing. Scores of police brandished AK-47 rifles as they drove past thousands lining the streets.

The violence in nearby Kufa came as Sistani’s efforts to try to persuade fighters loyal to rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to leave Najaf’s holiest shrine appeared to be gaining momentum. Sistani would soon unveil a peace plan, his aides said.

Tens of thousands of Iraqis in cars and on foot, many appearing to respond to Sistani’s call to rescue the holy city, were converging on Najaf from several regions, witnesses said.

A mortar attack on Kufa’s main mosque killed at least 25 Sadr supporters as hundreds of his men gathered inside, officials said. Shi’ite marchers were fired on in Kufa around the same time and 20 were killed, a Reuters photographer said.

The photographer said he had seen 20 bodies under blankets. It was unclear who opened fire or who launched the mortar.

Mohammed Abed al-Kadhem, a doctor at a hospital in the area, said 25 dead and 100 wounded had been brought in from the mosque attack, and at least 10 dead and 70 wounded from the shooting. Other victims were taken to another hospital in the area.

Television pictures showed dozens of wounded men lying in pools of blood around the mosque.

TEST FOR ALLAWI

Both the moderate Sistani and the radical Sadr have called on their supporters to converge on Najaf, where Mehdi Army militiamen loyal to Sadr are holed up in the Imam Ali mosque.

Hundreds have been killed in the past three weeks in fighting between the militia and U.S. and Iraqi government forces. The clashes have driven oil prices to record highs and undermined interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.

An aide with Sistani on the journey from the southern city of Basra said the 73-year-old Iranian-born cleric would unveil a plan to resolve the Najaf crisis. Sistani arrived back from London Wednesday after heart treatment.

“On his arrival, a (peace) initiative will be launched,” aide Hamed al-Khafaf told Reuters from Sistani’s convoy.

Allawi said he had ordered his forces to observe a 24-hour cease-fire in Najaf from 3 p.m. (1100 GMT) to help the talks.

In a statement, he said representatives of the rebel cleric Sadr – who has appeared to be ready to accept peace proposals in the past only to back away – had indicated they would accept the plan from Sistani.

Allawi said Mehdi fighters would be offered an amnesty if they gave up their weapons and left the Imam Ali shrine, and Sadr would also be given safe passage if he ended the uprising.

Military operations would resume 24 hours later if no agreement was reached, Najaf’s governor said.

Sistani’s peace plan will include getting the Mehdi militia out of the Imam Ali mosque and calling on U.S. marines encircling the shrine to leave, aides said.

OVERNIGHT CLASHES

Overnight, U.S. warplanes unleashed a fierce attack on rebel targets in Najaf. The strikes came just after U.S. artillery fire rattled the city which has a peacetime population of 500,000, about 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad.

Sistani left Najaf for medical treatment in London just as the Najaf uprising began three weeks ago. Dressed in a black robe and turban, with a flowing white beard and dark rings around his eyes, he made a dramatic return to Iraq Wednesday.

His followers say the cleric’s intervention could break the deadlock in Najaf and ensure a peaceful resolution.

Sistani played a role in ending a similar uprising from the Mehdi militia in April and May.

Sadr has challenged the collegiate leadership of the Najaf clergy headed by Sistani and styled himself as the face of anti-U.S. Shi’ite resistance. Aged only about 30, Sadr has proven a stubborn foe of Iraq’s U.S.-backed government.

U.S. firepower has failed to get his rebels out of the mosque as have threats and peace offerings from Allawi.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6077638

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[QUOTE]
it does'nt take einstein to work out the US is eager for there to be internal fighting between the iraqi factions so that the state of iraq can be divided into 3 sections.
[/QUOTE]

Your reaching AK.

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Sistani mobilises his ‘believers’ to march on Najaf in peace bid
By Donald Macintyre in Najaf
26 August 2004

The most venerated Shia cleric in Iraq made a sudden intervention in the Najaf crisis yesterday by returning to the country and calling on his supporters to march to the embattled holy city.

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani was expected in Najaf today after arriving yesterday in Basra from Kuwait as his lieutenants suggested that he had proposals for ending three weeks of fighting in the city.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=555155

Al-Sadr, al-Sistani near Najaf agreement

A spokesman for leading Shia authority Ayat Allah Ali al-Sistani tells reporters outside the ailing cleric’s Najaf home that a peaceful resolution to the standoff that has marred the city is within reach.

**Iraqi Gov’t Accepts Peace Deal for Najaf **

13 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Iraqi government accepted a peace deal brokered by Iraq (news - web sites)'s top Shiite cleric to end weeks of devastating violence in the holy city of Najaf, State Minister Qassim Dawoud said early Friday.