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| Iraq |
| Iraqi Shiâite Leader Al-Khoei Assassinated in Najaf |
| 2003-04-10 |
| Senior Iraqi Sh'ite leader Abdul Majid al-Khoei was assassinated at the mosque in the holy city of Najaf on Thursday, a member of his family foundation told Reuters. Ali Jabr, a member of the London-based Khoei foundation, confirmed to Reuters by phone that Abdel Majid was dead. The murder is sure to raise tensions among Iraq's majority Shi'ite population. Just what we need, more tension Majid is the son of the late Grand Ayatollah al-Khoei, spiritual leader of Iraq's Shi'ites at the time of the 1991 Gulf War. Al-Khoei's nephew, Jawad al-Khoei, told Reuters from the Iranian holy city of Qom that Abdul Majid was stabbed to death at the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf, one of the holiest shrines for Shi'ite Muslims. "An hour ago we talked to the persons who were with him at the time of the incident. They said he was martyred by treacherous hands," Jawad al-Khoei said. Some of Sammy's boys, or maybe just one of your local islamic turf wars? Whatever it was it ain't good news. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #8 Witnesses told reporters that a meeting was being held among leading mullahs about how to control the shrine, which had been under the control of the hated Haider al-Kadar, of Saddam's Ministry of religion. In a gesture of reconciliation, al-Kadar was accompanied to the shrine by Abdul Majid al-Khoei, a high-ranking Shiite cleric and son of one of the religion's most prominent ayatollahs, or spiritual leaders. He had just returned a week ago from exile in London to help restore order after the city was liberated by U.S. troops. Okay, seems as if al-Kadar was a bad egg that needed killin', but al-Khoei tried to be a peacemaker and got in the way. I'd blame his death on him spending all that time in London rubbing shoulders with the Kumbaya crowd. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-04-10 14:14:16 |
| #7 And here is another spin on the story from the Arab News War Correspondent in Najaf, Iraq: Former Iraqi general Nizar Al-Khazaraji and Islamic scholar Majid Al-Khoiâi have both been executed by Iraqi residents of Najaf, according to five independent Iraqi witnesses to the incident who spoke to Arab News. The two potential Iraqi leaders of the city, who were supported by the US, âwere chopped into pieces with swords and knives inside the Ali Mosque this morning by Iraqis who accused them of being American stooges,â one of the witnesses said. Another said that a US Special Forces Soldier, who had been acting as their body guard, was also killed in the incident. Al-Khoi'i's death has since been confirmed by his family in London. However, there has been no independent confirmation of Al-Khazarji's death. Arab News War Correspondent Essam Al-Ghalib says from Najaf that he can confirm only that local Iraqis were talking about the death of Al-Khazarji, not that the man had actually been killed. Not that they are biased or anything. |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-04-10 13:52:13 |
| #6 More details: Witnesses told reporters that a meeting was being held among leading mullahs about how to control the shrine, which had been under the control of the hated Haider al-Kadar, of Saddam's Ministry of religion. In a gesture of reconciliation, al-Kadar was accompanied to the shrine by Abdul Majid al-Khoei, a high-ranking Shiite cleric and son of one of the religion's most prominent ayatollahs, or spiritual leaders. He had just returned a week ago from exile in London to help restore order after the city was liberated by U.S. troops. When the two men appeared at the shrine, members of another faction loyal to a different mullah, Mohammed Baqer al-Sadr, verbally assailed al-Kadar. "Al-Kadar was an animal," said Adil Adnan al-Moussawi, 25, who witnessed the confrontation. Apparently feeling threatened, al-Khoei pulled a gun and fired one or two shots. There were conflicting accounts over whether he fired the bullets into the air, or in the crowd. Both men were then rushed by the crowd and hacked to death with swords and knives, the witnesses said. Al-Khoei was among the prominent returned exiles. Arriving in Najaf April 3, he said local clerics were attempting to negotiate a deal whereby Iraqi loyalists would leave the mosque in return for safe passage out of the city. His father, Ayatollah Abul-Qassim al-Khoei, was the revered Shiite spiritual leader at the time of the 1991 Shiite uprising crushed by Saddam. He died in 1993, two years after he was forced to meet Saddam to prove loyalty. The meeting was televised by Iraqi TV in a gesture to humiliate the Shiites. Al-Khoei told The Associated Press recently that he has urged his followers in the Shiite cities to stay at home and let the U.S. troops do their job. He said Saddam's tactics of urban warfare and the use of paramilitary militias made it highly risky for the population to revolt. A tearful Ghanem Jawad at the Khoei foundation in London confirmed that al-Khoei had been attacked, but didn't know if he'd been killed. |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-04-10 11:51:11 |
| #5 It'll probably be awhile before we find out exactly what happened here, and why, but I can't say I didn't expect it. We're going to see a lot of this over the next few days - those that "cooperated" with Saddam and his regime are going to answer to the people they held in bondage and tortured for 35 years. Unfortunately, there may be a few innocent victims included, but I think the number will be small, considering the crimes that need to be repaid. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-04-10 11:30:45 |
| #4 Damn Steve! Seven seconds quicker and whole lot more info! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-04-10 10:25:02 |
| #3 latest on Fox said he was hacked to death by a mob inside the Ali mosque.....street justice? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-04-10 10:21:29 |
| #2 Update: A crowd rushed two Islamic clerics and hacked them to death in this holy city Thursday, witnesses said. An unknown number of people were injured. "People attacked and killed both of them inside the mosque," said Ali Assayid Haider, a mullah who traveled from the southern city of Basra for the meeting. Reuters reported that senior Iraqi Shiite leader Abdul Majid al Khoei was assassinated at the mosque. The killings took place at the shrine of Imam Ali, one of the holiest sites of Shiite Islam, practiced by the majority of Iraqis.Witnesses told reporters visiting the mosque that a meeting was held at 10 a.m. among leading mullahs about how to control the shrine, which has been under the supervision of Haider al Kadar, who was widely disliked because of his role as a member of President Saddam Hussein's Ministry of Religion. In a gesture of reconciliation, al Kadar was accompanied to the shrine by al Khoei, son of one of the religion's most prominent ayatollas who was executed by Saddam in 1982. OK, now that clears things up. Haider al Kadar was one of Sammy's puppets, the people took their revenge, and Majid al Khoei either got in the way or was killed by one of Kader's supporters. |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-04-10 10:21:22 |
| #1 Should be under Iraq section, sorry. |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-04-10 10:07:19 |