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Holiest Shiite Muslim shrine damaged in Najaf
Car bomb explodes in Baghdad Tuesday, May 25, 2004 Posted: 12:16 PM EDT (1616 GMT) BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The holiest of Shiite Muslim mosques was mysteriously damaged Tuesday, as violence continued in the Iraqi capital. In Najaf, the Imam Ali Mosque -- the holiest of all Shiite Muslim shrines --was damaged by some type of explosion outside its walls, but it was not at all clear what -- or who -- caused the minor damage. A U.S. military spokesman told CNN that coalition forces were not involved in any fighting near the shrine and did not fire any mortar or artillery near the mosque that could account for any damage. Angry Iraqis gathered outside the mosque to protest. Coalition forces have been battling a militia loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in and around Najaf and the neighboring city of Kufa, but U.S. officials have repeatedly said they took great pains to avoid the sensitive shrines. A lot of thought needs to be given as how to correctly isolate and identify Arab on Arab violence like that promoted by Zarqawi. He may well destroy some of the Shia shrines solely to try and shift blame upon the United States. We may need to cordon off these sites without occupying them just to protect them from such a sneak attack. The slaughter of Shias touches on another Zarqawi beef with bin Laden. While both men follow the strict code of Salafi Islam, which reckons Shias as apostates, bin Laden prides himself on being a unifying figure and has made tactical alliances with Shia groups, meeting several times with Shia militants ... Zarqawi, by contrast, favours butchering Shias, calling them "the most evil of mankind . . . the lurking snake, the crafty and malicious scorpion, the spying enemy, and the penetrating venom" ... US military officials hold Zarqawi responsible not only for assassinating Shia religious leaders in Iraq but also for the multiple truck bombings of a Shia religious festival in March that killed 143 worshippers ... But although bin Laden and Zarqawi differ on strategy, Zarqawi too cloaks his plans for mass murder in the language of the religious zealot. Posted by: Zenster 2004-05-25 |
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