Mosque blast sparks Shi'ite fury

A BOMB attack on one of Iraq's most revered Shi'ite shrines yesterday spawned mass protests and reprisal attacks against dozens of Sunni mosques.

The brazen assault which blew the landmark golden dome off the mosque was the third major attack against Shi'ite targets in as many days and threatened to enflame religious passions.

No group claimed responsibility for the early morning attack on the Askariya shrine in Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, but suspicion fell on Sunni extremist groups.

US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and the top American commander in Iraq called the bombings a deliberate attempt to foment sectarian strife and warned it was a "critical moment for Iraq." They also promised the US would contribute to the shrine's reconstruction.

"Given the historic, cultural, and religious importance of this shrine, this attack is a crime against humanity," Mr Khalilzad and General George Casey said in a joint statement.

Shi'ite leaders called for calm, but militants attacked Sunni mosques and a gunfight broke out between Shi'ite militiamen and guards at the offices of a Sunni political party in Basra. About 500 soldiers were sent to Sunni neighbourhoods in Baghdad to prevent clashes between the sects, army captain Jassim al-Wahash said.

Shi'ite spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani sent instructions to his followers forbidding attacks on Sunni mosques, especially the major ones in Baghdad. He called for seven days of mourning, his aides said.

The Iraqi Islamic Party, the country's largest Sunni political group, said at least 60 mosques were attacked, burned or taken over by Shi'ites.

A leading Sunni politician, Tariq al-Hashimi, urged clerics and politicians to calm the situation "before it spins out of control".

A government statement said "several suspects" had been detained in the attack on the mosque in Samarra.

The Askariya shrine contains the tombs of two revered Shi'ite imams, descendants of the Prophet Mohammed who are considered by Shi'ites to be among his successors.

The Interior Ministry said four men, one wearing a military uniform and three clad in black, entered the mosque and detonated two bombs, one of which collapsed the dome into a crumbly mess, leaving just traces of gold showing through the rubble.

Police said no casualties had been found as Iraqis picked through the debris, pulling out artifacts.

US and Iraqi forces surrounded the shrine and searched nearby houses. Five police officers responsible for protecting the mosque were taken into custody, said Colonel Bashar Abdullah, chief of police commandos.

Demonstrators then gathered near the shrine, waving Iraqi flags, Shi'ite religious banners and copies of the Koran.

National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie blamed religious zealots such as al-Qaida, telling Al-Arabiya television the attack was an attempt "to pull Iraq toward civil war".

Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, head of the Shi'ite Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, said the US shared the blame, citing a statement by Mr Khalilzad that America would not continue to support institutions run by sectarian groups with links to armed militias. "These statements were the reason for more pressure and gave green lights to terrorist groups," Mr al-Hakim said.

Commandos under Interior Minister Bayan Jabr, a member of Mr al-Hakim's party, have been accused by Sunni Arabs of widespread human rights abuses against Sunni civilians.

Major Sunni groups joined in the condemning the attack, with the Sunni clerical Association of Muslim Scholars calling the bombing a "criminal act".

Large protests erupted in Shi'ite parts of Baghdad and in cities throughout the Shi'ite heartland to the south. In Basra, militants traded rifle and rocket-propelled grenade fire with guards at the office of the Iraqi Islamic Party.

Shi'ite protesters later set fire to a Sunni shrine containing the seventh century tomb of Talha bin Obeid-Allah, a companion of the Prophet Mohammed, on the outskirts of the southern city, but there was no immediate word on the extent of the damage or any casualties.

Protesters in Najaf, Kut and Baghdad's Shi'ite slum of Sadr City also marched through the streets by the hundreds and thousands, many shouting anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans.

Elsewhere in the capital, about 40 Shi'ite militiamen sprayed a Sunni mosque in eastern Baghdad with automatic fire.

Gunmen in a speeding car shot and killed Sunni cleric Sheik Khalil al-Dulaimi as he was entering the al-Rashidi mosque in eastern Baghdad, the Iraqi army said. A street vendor was killed in another mosque attack.

President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, said the attack was designed to sabotage talks on a government of national unity following the December 15 parliamentary election and he warned extremists are pushing Iraq toward civil war.

"We are facing a major conspiracy that is targeting Iraq's unity," Mr Talabani said. "We should all stand hand in hand to prevent the danger of a civil war."

Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shi'ite, urged all Iraqis to condemn the attack and called on both Muslim and Christian leaders abroad "to redouble their efforts to help the Iraqi government stop these saboteurs".

The shrine attack followed a devastating car bomb late Tuesday in a Shi'ite corner of Baghdad, killing 22 people, according to police.