FBI to probe mosque bomb outrage

The FBI is to join the investigation into the Najaf mosque bombing after the provincial governor called for US help over the explosion at Iraq’s holiest Shiite Muslim shrine that killed 125 people.

Police said the device was the equivalent of 1,650lbs of TNT.

Meanwhile more than 300,000 Shiites marched toward Najaf from Baghdad behind a truck carrying a symbolic coffin representing their beloved Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, who was among those killed in the enormous blast as Friday prayers ended at the Imam Ali shrine.

A three-day period of mourning began yesterday with services at the al-Kadhimiya shrine in Baghdad.

At the halfway point, the second holiest Shiite city of Karbala, 3,000 mourners had gathered at the shrine there, praying, beating drums and flagellating themselves with chains as the ayatollah’s coffin and the huge procession neared. The funeral will be held tomorrow in Najaf, 110 miles south of Baghdad.

The faithful trudged behind a flatbed truck carrying the coffin. Authorities said they could only find al-Hakim’s hand, watch, wedding ring and pen in the wreckage.

“Our revenge will be severe on the killers,” read one of the many banners carried by mourners.

Red and white roses were laid on the coffin and a large portrait of al-Hakim was placed in front of it.

The US-led Coalition Provisional Authority said Najaf governor Haider Mehadi asked for the FBI to join Iraqi police in the investigation, and that the American investigators would be travelling to Najaf shortly. The US occupation authority had taken a hands-off approach out of deference to the sacredness of the location for Shiites.

In Washington, a spokesman for the FBI, Special Agent John Iannarelli, said the bureau would join the investigation into the car bombing in Najaf.

He confirmed the FBI would provide forensic analysis of the evidence and said it was still being worked out what other assistance the FBI, which has agents assigned to the region, would provide.

FBI agents are leading the investigations into both the August 7 bombing of the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad and attack on the United Nations headquarters 12 days later.

Iraqi police told The Associated Press they have arrested 19 men – many of them foreigners and all with admitted links to al Qaida – in connection with the blast. However, many Shiites blame the cleric’s death on Saddam Hussein loyalists and the US-led coalition, which they say has failed to provide adequate security in the country since the dictator’s fall.

In Najaf, Major Rick Hall, spokesman for the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines said the death toll now stood at 125 with 142 wounded, some seriously. He also said the Marine handover of the territory this week to an international force led by Poland had been put on hold indefinitely.

“We now want to stay here and assist as much as possible,” Hall said.

He said US forces had two men in custody that were handed to them by Iraqi authorities.

“We are questioning them, but we are leaning towards releasing them,” Hall said, adding that the involvement of al Qaida members in the explosion was “an option we are looking at”.

Hall denied reports that the Marines would patrol around the shrine, citing Islamic sensitivities to having non-Muslims in or around the most holy of Shiite sites. He said US forces had offered Marine patrols of the area to the interim Governing Council in Baghdad and religious leaders in Najaf. An answer was expected in the next day or two, he said.

Police detained two Iraqis and two Saudis shortly after Friday’s attack, and they provided information leading to the arrest of 15 other suspects, said a senior police official in Najaf.

Two Kuwaitis and six Palestinians with Jordanian passports were among the suspects, the official said. The remainder were Iraqis and Saudis, the official said, without giving a breakdown.

“They are all connected to al Qaida,” the official said.

Hall said American forces had no access to those in Iraqi police custody, but said he had heard numbers ranging from nine to 19.

Police said there were similarities between the mosque bombing and the two other recent attacks at the Jordanian Embassy and the United Nations.

Iraqi police said the bomb at the Imam Ali Shrine – the burial place of the son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad – was made from the same type of materials used in the previous bomb attacks.

The bombing in Najaf added urgency to US plans to create a 7,500-strong Iraqi militia that would eventually take over civil defence duties in the country’s cities. Gen John Abizaid, the head of US Central Command, announced plans to create the new militia, called the Iraqi Civil Defence Corps, on July 21.

A day before the bombing, commander of US forces in Iraq, Lt Gen. Ricardo Sanchez said mobilising the Iraqi militia – rather than bringing in more US or coalition troops to Iraq – was the key to stabilising the security situation in the country.

A key figure in the US-picked Governing Council wrote in a Washington Post column yesterday that the United States needed to include Iraqis in their own security.

“America must reach out to its friends and allies in Iraq to share the burden of defeating Saddam once and for all,” wrote Ahmad Chalabi, leader of the Iraqi National Congress.

“You have the firepower and mobility, we have the local knowledge and intelligence. Only if we work as true partners will we achieve the victory that is so vital to both our countries.”