Shiites retaliate to Sunni bombing

cctv.com 02-23-2006 09:19

Shiite protesters attacked 90 Sunni mosques throughout Iraq on Wednesday, in retaliation for the bombing of one of Shiite Islam's holiest shrines. Hatred among different religious groups has been on the rise in Iraq, creating a complicated and unstable situation in the war-torn country.

The Iraqi Islamic Party, the country's largest Sunni political group, said the mosques were attacked, burned or taken over by Shiites.

At least seven people, including three clerics, were killed in the attacks, which were mainly in Baghdad and predominantly Shiite provinces south of the country, the party said.

Large protests erupted in Shiite parts of Baghdad and in cities throughout the Shiite heartland to the south. It was in reaction to the early morning attack on the Askariya shrine. The shrine contains the tombs of two revered Shiite imams, both descendants of the Prophet Muhammad, and is among Iraq's most sacred sites for Shiite Muslims.

The Interior Ministry said four men, wearing a military uniform and three in black, entered the mosque early Wednesday and detonated two bombs, one of which collapsed the dome and damaged part of the shrine's northern wall.

The country's most revered Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, sent instructions to his followers forbidding attacks on Sunni mosques, especially the major ones in Baghdad.

Meeting with other senior Shi'ite clerics in the holy city of Najaf, al-Sistani also called for a week of mourning, his aides said.

The Sunni mosques were attacked by militants, despite calls for calm.

Editor:Wang Ping  Source:CCTV.com