Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Media: The Associated Press
Byline: By QAIS AL-BASHIR
Date: 19 August 2006
BAGHDAD, Iraq_Thousands of pilgrims arrived on foot Saturday at a Shiite
shrine in Baghdad to start a major religious commemoration, as private
vehicles were banned from the streets to prevent car bombings by Sunni
extremists. At least 18 people were killed in the political and sectarian
violence.
In a statement, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki urged Iraqis to cooperate
with security forces during the ceremonies marking the death in 799 A.D. of
Imam Moussa Kadhim, one of the 12 Shiite saints.
The imam is buried in a golden-domed shrine in north Baghdad's Kazimiyah
district.
Tens of thousands more Shiites are expected to visit the shrine on Sunday,
when the ceremonies peak. Fearing an attack among the pilgrims, the
government banned all private vehicles on the streets from Friday night
until Monday morning. Soldiers, police and Shiite volunteers threw a
security cordon around the shrine, frisking pilgrims as they arrived.
Mindful of Sunni-Shiite tensions, al-Maliki, a Shiite, warned against
turning the ceremonies into a political demonstration, calling on clerics to
urge people to unite and "shun whatever could lead to sectarian fights."
"We warn all those who use podiums (in mosques) to incite sectarian violence
that they will be prosecuted as terrorists," he said without elaboration.
Shiites from throughout the country began arriving at the shrine on Friday
night on foot. Late Friday, unidentified gunmen opened fire on a group of
pilgrims walking through the mostly Sunni Adil neighborhood in western
Baghdad, killing seven of them.
Last year, the government said about 1,000 people died during the Imam
Kadhim commemoration when rumors of suicide bombers triggered a mass
stampede on a bridge across the Tigris River. It was the biggest single day
death toll since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.
"Last year I was on the bridge and I fell into the water but that gave me
the power to come back. I challenge the terrorists now that I have come to
visit the imam," said Rahim al-Rubaie, 29.
Shiites were prevented from mustering huge crowds at religious ceremonies
during Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime. But since Saddam's ouster in
2003, Shiite politicians and religious leaders have encouraged huge turnouts
as a demonstration of the majority sect's power.
As the pilgrims arrived under the blistering summer heat, volunteers handed
out orange drinks and free food. Many of the pilgrims waved the green flag
of Islam or flags of their tribes, and some were cloaked in white shrouds, a
symbol of their willingness to die.
" My cousins died here last year so I have come this year and I wish to die
to be martyr and join my cousins in the paradise " said Ali al-Saedi, a
20-year-old college student.
Because of the vehicle ban, no cars and very few people were seen on the
streets except police and army vehicle patrols. But the area around the
shrine in Kazimiyah bustled with activity.
A government statement said it was "absolutely forbidden" to carry weapons,
cell phones and any type of bags, even plastic ones into the shrine.
The ceremonies are taking place during a major U.S.-Iraqi security operation
aimed at curbing Sunni-Shiite violence, which threatens the stability of the
new government of national unity. Nearly 12,000 U.S. and Iraqi troop
reinforcements are coming in to take control of this city of 6.5 million
people neighborhood by neighborhood.
Nine people were killed Saturday in Baqouba, a major Sunni-Shiite
flashpoint, 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad. The victims
included two professors of the Doyala University who were shot dead while
returning home.
Also Saturday, four soldiers were killed when the convoy they were traveling
in was struck by a roadside bomb in Diwaniyah, 130 kilometers (80 miles) of
Baghdad, police 1st Lt. Raed Jabir said.
In addition, five more people were killed Saturday in scattered violence
across the country.
Meanwhile, Pope Benedict XVI has appealed for the release of a priest
kidnapped at gunpoint in Baghdad, in a telegram sent to the Patriarch of the
Iraqi capital, Italian news agencies reported Saturday.
In the telegram, sent by the Vatican's Secretary of State Angelo Sodano, the
pontiff expressed "profound sadness" at the abduction of Rev. Hanna Saad
Sirop as he left Mass celebrating the Assumption holiday.
Byline: By QAIS AL-BASHIR
Date: 19 August 2006
BAGHDAD, Iraq_Thousands of pilgrims arrived on foot Saturday at a Shiite
shrine in Baghdad to start a major religious commemoration, as private
vehicles were banned from the streets to prevent car bombings by Sunni
extremists. At least 18 people were killed in the political and sectarian
violence.
In a statement, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki urged Iraqis to cooperate
with security forces during the ceremonies marking the death in 799 A.D. of
Imam Moussa Kadhim, one of the 12 Shiite saints.
The imam is buried in a golden-domed shrine in north Baghdad's Kazimiyah
district.
Tens of thousands more Shiites are expected to visit the shrine on Sunday,
when the ceremonies peak. Fearing an attack among the pilgrims, the
government banned all private vehicles on the streets from Friday night
until Monday morning. Soldiers, police and Shiite volunteers threw a
security cordon around the shrine, frisking pilgrims as they arrived.
Mindful of Sunni-Shiite tensions, al-Maliki, a Shiite, warned against
turning the ceremonies into a political demonstration, calling on clerics to
urge people to unite and "shun whatever could lead to sectarian fights."
"We warn all those who use podiums (in mosques) to incite sectarian violence
that they will be prosecuted as terrorists," he said without elaboration.
Shiites from throughout the country began arriving at the shrine on Friday
night on foot. Late Friday, unidentified gunmen opened fire on a group of
pilgrims walking through the mostly Sunni Adil neighborhood in western
Baghdad, killing seven of them.
Last year, the government said about 1,000 people died during the Imam
Kadhim commemoration when rumors of suicide bombers triggered a mass
stampede on a bridge across the Tigris River. It was the biggest single day
death toll since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.
"Last year I was on the bridge and I fell into the water but that gave me
the power to come back. I challenge the terrorists now that I have come to
visit the imam," said Rahim al-Rubaie, 29.
Shiites were prevented from mustering huge crowds at religious ceremonies
during Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime. But since Saddam's ouster in
2003, Shiite politicians and religious leaders have encouraged huge turnouts
as a demonstration of the majority sect's power.
As the pilgrims arrived under the blistering summer heat, volunteers handed
out orange drinks and free food. Many of the pilgrims waved the green flag
of Islam or flags of their tribes, and some were cloaked in white shrouds, a
symbol of their willingness to die.
" My cousins died here last year so I have come this year and I wish to die
to be martyr and join my cousins in the paradise " said Ali al-Saedi, a
20-year-old college student.
Because of the vehicle ban, no cars and very few people were seen on the
streets except police and army vehicle patrols. But the area around the
shrine in Kazimiyah bustled with activity.
A government statement said it was "absolutely forbidden" to carry weapons,
cell phones and any type of bags, even plastic ones into the shrine.
The ceremonies are taking place during a major U.S.-Iraqi security operation
aimed at curbing Sunni-Shiite violence, which threatens the stability of the
new government of national unity. Nearly 12,000 U.S. and Iraqi troop
reinforcements are coming in to take control of this city of 6.5 million
people neighborhood by neighborhood.
Nine people were killed Saturday in Baqouba, a major Sunni-Shiite
flashpoint, 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad. The victims
included two professors of the Doyala University who were shot dead while
returning home.
Also Saturday, four soldiers were killed when the convoy they were traveling
in was struck by a roadside bomb in Diwaniyah, 130 kilometers (80 miles) of
Baghdad, police 1st Lt. Raed Jabir said.
In addition, five more people were killed Saturday in scattered violence
across the country.
Meanwhile, Pope Benedict XVI has appealed for the release of a priest
kidnapped at gunpoint in Baghdad, in a telegram sent to the Patriarch of the
Iraqi capital, Italian news agencies reported Saturday.
In the telegram, sent by the Vatican's Secretary of State Angelo Sodano, the
pontiff expressed "profound sadness" at the abduction of Rev. Hanna Saad
Sirop as he left Mass celebrating the Assumption holiday.