Iraq's Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi warned yesterday that insurgents were trying to foment a sectarian war in the country, as thousands of mourners attended funerals in the Shiite cities of Najaf and Kerbala a day after car bomb attacks killed 67 people. Allawi said the mainly Sunni insurgents, blamed for the deadly strikes Sunday against Iraq's majority Shiites, want to "create ethnic and religious tensions, problems and conflicts ... to destroy the unity of this country. These attacks are designed to stop the political process from taking place in Iraq." He added that he expected more such strikes as key Jan. 30 parliamentary elections get closer.
Illustrating continuing tensions in the region, a bomb exploded at a police checkpoint in Kerbala yesterday, causing damage to surrounding buildings but inflicting no casualties. Police said they cordoned off the area and arrested the attacker. Shiites, who make up around 60 percent of Iraq's population, have been strong supporters of the upcoming electoral process, which they expect will reverse the longtime domination of Iraq by the Sunni minority, the country's other main religious sect. The insurgency is believed to have been fomented by Sunnis, who made up the majority of Saddam Hussein's former Baath Party leadership. Shiite officials and clerics blamed the Najaf and Kerbala bombings — the worst carnage in Iraq since July — on Sunni insurgents wanting to ignite a sectarian war. The strikes appeared designed to cause massive casualties and eventual reprisals by the Shiites against Sunnis. "We always have said that we are going to fight and defeat terrorism," Allawi said. "We are going to win definitely and the political process would continue in Iraq." |