**BAGHDAD, Feb. 22 (Xinhuanet) – The Iraqi government condemned the attack on one of Iraq’s most famous Shiite shrines in Samarra, 120km north of Baghdad, and announced three days of mourning.
"We announce three days of mourning in protest against this coward act which was against all Muslims in the world and it entails that all of us should exert every effort to protect these shrines," Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said in a speech on the Iraqiyah local TV.**
The attack occurred at about 6:45 a.m. (0345 GMT) on Wednesday at the shrine of Ali al-Hadi and badly damaged the golden dome,said a source from Salahudin province, where Samarra is located. He said the blast caused no casualties.
In a press release, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the foremost Shiite spiritual leader, called on Iraqis to hold seven days of mourning for the attack and to protest peacefully against the damage of the shrine.
Muwafaq al-Rubayie, Iraq's national security advisor, said the security forces captured 10 suspected "terrorists" in Samarra after the attack.
The attack also drew condemnation from Sunni Arabs, calling to bring the responsible for justice.
After the attack, U.S. and Iraqi security forces immediately cordoned off the area, preventing the angry people from approaching the scene, according to the source in Salahudin.
The U.S. and Iraqi troops arrested all security members of the shrine for interrogation, he said.
Many people in the city took to the streets in protest against the attack and chanted slogans against the U.S. troops, terrorism and the Iraqi government, which they accused of failing to bring security and stability to the violence-torn country, he said.
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It is quite sad that the US forces have to resort to destroying places of worship to implement their blueprint of a 3 way division of Iraq, the muslims should see through these plans and reject any form of sectarian plan the occupiers try to force through!**
Just take a look at the Shia-Sunni violence around the world. You can blame the US all you want, but the Muslim world fights each other more than they fight the outside world.
This is laughable Iraq is under occupation by US and UK forces and you act as if they are absolved from any crime in whole country, look at the reality US hit squads are active in assainating known opponents to US, the whole occupation was based on fraud and lies, The US plan is well known to divide iraq into sunni, shia and kurdish enclaves this goes in line with that plan.
So who is responsible for shia-sunni violence in Pakistan? CIA? ISI?
Let's be clear, extremist sunnis consider shias kafir and enemies of the ummah and in collusion with the occupation forces in Iraq. This is all well known.
It would be to Al Qaida's benefit to see a civil war in Iraq to show that US occupation was wrong for Iraq, while the US wants a stable pro-US government to legitimize their occupation.
And when I say that we Muslims are Hypocrites my Posts get deleted, but just look at us we cant even live with eachother, but we will blame everyone else for our misgivings:hinna:
The Iraqi P.M. was just the other day *****ing about how the U.S. should not dictate to Iraq vis as vis the tendency for the government to from around sectarian lines.
Sectarianism is an Iraqi/Muslim thing. They not be needin’ any U.S. prodding in that direction. They’ve in fact gotten just the opposite.
“Mr Straw arrived on Monday, hours after US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad issued a tough warning to Iraqi leaders that Washington would not tolerate sectarianism or militias in the new government.”
Following your “beautiful” logic, the 3 sunni imams killed in Iraq, is also the work of US hit squads. Right? Heaven knows, how many more sunni mosques are these “US hit squads” going to blow up now.
Get a life man. You are blaming “US hit squads” as if this bombing is something new from fanatic sunni extremists, who justify killings of shias, and take it as a ticket to paradise. This is not the first time these lunatics have done this. Have you forgotten how many mosques they have bombed in Pakistan? “US hit squads” my ass!
People like IvanDrago are the ones who support these lunatics, and try to hide their crimes putting blame on others.
And if the lunatics of al-Qaeda and their supporters do not stop then it is EXACTLY what is going to happen.
And guess what you he will get the most advantage of out such division? I hope I don’t break any anti-shia’s heart when I tell them that it will be shias in Iraq. Because most of the oil-wells are located in southern Iraq.
Most Iraqi insurgency is in sunni-dominated areas. And most terrorists are not Iraqi sunnis but Qaeda-poisened non-Iraqis. If Iraqi sunnis do not want their country divided (and let go of oil) then it is in their interest to identify the terrorists amongst them. Mere condemnation of these terrorist acts is not going to be enough.
Sunni bomb Shia mosque in Iraq. Why blame US Pakistan and Israel for that? Don't hey have their own brains? All hell broke lose within the Sunni and Shia world when Babri Masjid was destroyed...now they go bomb the shrine themselves and some uninformed people here start blaming everyone else for their violent ways.
