Sunni mosques attacked after Shiite shrine bombing
Friday, 15 June 2007
BAGHDAD, Jun 14 (AFP): Two Sunni mosques were bombed in Iraq Thursday in apparent reprisal for an attack on a revered Shiite shrine, sparking fears of fresh sectarian bloodletting despite appeals for calm.
Curfews were swiftly imposed in Baghdad and in Samarra, where suspected Al-Qaeda militants Wednesday bombed the Al-Askari mosque, but at least six Sunni mosques have been attacked, including one in the capital.
The destruction of Samarra's two gold-covered minarets came after an initial attack on the shrine in 2006, also blamed on Al-Qaeda, sparked Sunni-Shiite reprisals that have claimed tens of thousands of lives.
Early Thursday, the Sunni mosques of Al-Mustafa in Iskandiriyah and Al-Bashir in Mahawil, both south of Baghdad, were bombed, Lieutenant Kamal al-Ameri of Hilla police told AFP.
Four other Sunni mosques -- three in Iskandiriyah and one in Baghdad -- were attacked Wednesday, the latter despite imposition of a curfew in the capital that was due to be lifted Saturday.
US President George W. Bush, who ordered tens of thousands more US troops onto Baghdad's streets to stem brutal sectarian murders started by the 2006 Samarra bombing, blamed the latest attack on Al-Qaeda.
He said the bombing was aimed at "inflaming sectarian tensions among the peoples of Iraq and defeating their aspirations for a secure, democratic and prosperous country."
Bush called "on all Iraqis to refrain from acts of vengeance and reject Al-Qaeda's scheme to sow hatred among the Iraqi people and to instead join together in fighting Al-Qaeda as the true enemy of a free and secure Iraq."
The February 2006 attack destroyed the golden dome of one of the world's holiest Shiite shrines where the faithful believe their 12th Imam, a messianic and mystical figure, disappeared in the 9th century.
Curfews were swiftly imposed in Baghdad and in Samarra, where suspected Al-Qaeda militants Wednesday bombed the Al-Askari mosque, but at least six Sunni mosques have been attacked, including one in the capital.
The destruction of Samarra's two gold-covered minarets came after an initial attack on the shrine in 2006, also blamed on Al-Qaeda, sparked Sunni-Shiite reprisals that have claimed tens of thousands of lives.
Early Thursday, the Sunni mosques of Al-Mustafa in Iskandiriyah and Al-Bashir in Mahawil, both south of Baghdad, were bombed, Lieutenant Kamal al-Ameri of Hilla police told AFP.
Four other Sunni mosques -- three in Iskandiriyah and one in Baghdad -- were attacked Wednesday, the latter despite imposition of a curfew in the capital that was due to be lifted Saturday.
US President George W. Bush, who ordered tens of thousands more US troops onto Baghdad's streets to stem brutal sectarian murders started by the 2006 Samarra bombing, blamed the latest attack on Al-Qaeda.
He said the bombing was aimed at "inflaming sectarian tensions among the peoples of Iraq and defeating their aspirations for a secure, democratic and prosperous country."
Bush called "on all Iraqis to refrain from acts of vengeance and reject Al-Qaeda's scheme to sow hatred among the Iraqi people and to instead join together in fighting Al-Qaeda as the true enemy of a free and secure Iraq."
The February 2006 attack destroyed the golden dome of one of the world's holiest Shiite shrines where the faithful believe their 12th Imam, a messianic and mystical figure, disappeared in the 9th century.