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Iraq Shia fighting in Syria: Zebari
[Al Ahram] Iraqi Shia Moslems are fighting in Syria alongside troops of  Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad Trampler of Homs... , Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said on Friday, while insisting this was not the policy of the Shia-led Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... government. "I do not deny that Iraqi Shia fighters are participating in combat in Syria, just as Sunnis from the Gulf are doing in that country," he said in remarks published by pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat. "But that does not come under government policy," added Zebari, himself a Kurd and a Sunni Moslem. At a Friday news conference in Stockholm, he said he had "no first hand figures" on the number of Iraqi Shia ighters in Syria, but that there were "not several thousand... maybe several hundred". Fighters from Leb's Shia Hezbollah movement have also intervened in Syria alongside troops loyal to Assad, whose Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shiite Islam. Their presence has been roundly denounced by rebels fighting to overthrow Assad, most of whom come from Syria's Sunni majority, and by influential Egyptian-born holy man Sheikh Yusef Qaradawi. While "Hezbollah militia are engaged in combat in Syria, there are also Sunni fatwas, such as the one by Qaradawi calling for jihad in Syria," Zebari said. At the beginning of June, the Qatar-based holy man called on Sunni volunteers from around the Moslem world to fight alongside the rebels. "The Syrian conflict has become more dangerous, because the sectarian confrontation has been brought to the fore. This is very dangerous and I think all countries should be aware not to push things in this direction," Zebari said in Stockholm. Posted by: Fred 2013-06-29 |
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