19 arrested in bombing of mosque in Iraq ( 2003-08-31 09:01) (Agencies)
Police have arrested 19 men -
many of them foreigners and all with admitted links to al-Qaida - in the car
bombing of the Imam Ali shrine in the holy Shiite city of Najaf, a senior Iraqi
investigator told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Two Iraqis and two Saudis grabbed shortly after the Friday attack gave
information leading to the arrest of the others, said the official, speaking on
condition of anonymity. They include two Kuwaitis and six Palestinians with
Jordanian passports with the remainder Iraqis and Saudis, the official said,
without giving a breakdown.
Initial information shows the foreigners entered Iraq from Kuwait, Syria and
Jordan, the official said, adding that they belong to the Wahhabi sect of Sunni
Islam.
"They are all connected to al-Qaida," the official said.
Wahhabism is the strict, fundamentalist branch of Sunni Islam from which
al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden draws spiritual direction. Based in Saudi
Arabia, its followers show little tolerance for non-Wahhabi Sunnis and Shiites.
Police pointed to similarities between the mosque bombing and two recent
attacks.
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 Aug. 19
truck bombing at the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, which killed 23 people, and
the Jordanian Embassy vehicle bombing Aug. 7, which killed 19, the Iraqi
official said.
U.S. officials have not confirmed any details of the arrests, which would
substantiate Bush administration claims that bin Laden's followers have taken
their Islamic militant war against the West to Iraq, where U.S. forces are
struggling to maintain security.
American authorities have not taken an active public role in the mosque
investigation because of Iraqi sensitivity to any U.S. presence at the Najaf
shrine, the most-sacred Shiite shrine in Iraq and the third holiest in the world
after Mecca and Medina.
Hospital officials said 85 people died in the shrine bombing, including
leading Shiite Muslim cleric Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim. Earlier tolls
were reduced after some deaths were found to have been reported twice.
Thousands of angry mourners gathered outside the damaged Imam Ali shrine
Saturday, calling for vengeance in the killing of al-Hakim, a cherished Shiite
leader and Saddam Hussein opponent who only in May had returned from exile in
Iran.
While backing the formation of an Islamic state in Iraq, al-Hakim had also
urged unity among hostile Shiite factions and tolerance of the American-led
coalition.
"Our leader al-Hakim is gone. We want the blood of the killers of al-Hakim,"
a crowd of 4,000 men chanted, beating their chests.
Tens of thousands of worshippers filled the shrine and the surrounding
streets of Najaf, 110 miles southwest of Baghdad, for a funeral service for
victims. Residents carried coffins on the tops of cars and backs of trucks.
There was to be a service for al-Hakim in Baghdad early Sunday; his remains
were to be buried Tuesday in Najaf, his birthplace and seat of the powerful
al-Hakim family. Authorities said they have only found al-Hakim's hand, watch,
wedding band and a pen.
In response to the bombing, a highly respected Shiite cleric suspended his
membership in the U.S.-chosen Iraqi interim Governing Council, citing a lack of
security.
Mohammed Bahr al-Uloum, in exile in London until Saddam's ouster, said
Saturday that his return to the council depended on the U.S.-led coalition's
handing security matters to Iraqis, so that Muslim shrines could be under
Islamic protection.
"This act has pushed me to postpone my membership in the governing council
because it can't do anything concerning the security situation," he said.
The men arrested claimed the recent bombings were designed to "keep Iraq in a
state of chaos so that police and American forces are unable to focus" on the
country's porous borders, which foreign fighters are said to be crossing, the
Iraqi official said.
The Najaf police official, who led the initial investigation and
interrogation of the captives, said the prisoners described plots to assassinate
political and religious leaders and to damage vital installations such as power
plants, water supplies and oil pipelines.
In the latest sabotage, an explosion and fire Saturday struck the pipeline
carrying oil from Iraq's northern Kirkuk fields to Turkey. The blaze further
delayed resumption of the vital link which costs Iraqis an estimated $7 million
each day it is out of operation. The blast was the fourth to hit the line since
it briefly reopened earlier this month.
In the shrine attack, 1,550 pounds of explosives were planted in two cars for
the Imam Ali mosque attack, the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya satellite broadcaster
reported, quoting the Najaf governor. The U.N. bomb was about 1,000 pounds.
The FBI said the U.N. bomb was built from ordnance left over from Saddam's
regime, most of it made in the Soviet Union. Many explosives were wired
together, including a 500-pound Soviet-era bomb, the agency said.
The shrine investigation was being handled entirely by Iraqi police in Najaf,
but the FBI would assist if asked, coalition spokesman Charles Heatley told
reporters. "It's clearly in our interests that those responsible be brought to
justice," he said.
He said the coalition had sent $200,000 to Iraqi authorities in Najaf as a
disaster relief fund and had earmarked $2 million for reconstruction in the
city.
The coalition rejects claims it is not providing adequate security in Iraq,
Heatley said.
The fundamentalist Wahhabists have a history of antagonism against Shiites
and their ornate centers of worship - such as the Imam Ali shrine, with its gold
dome and lavish blue mosaics.
Based on the strict teachings of 18th-century Saudi cleric Muhammad bin
Abdel-Wahhab, Wahhabism was banned by Saddam. Now, scholars of Islam say the
Wahhabis may be trying to cast themselves as protectors of the Sunnis, the
minority that had ruled over the majority Shiites in Iraq.
The string of attacks appear aimed at those who cooperate with the United
States.
The Jordanians have among the best ties with Washington of all Arab
governments and have shown sympathy for the U.S.-picked interim Iraqi Governing
Council. The United Nations was seen as a key to postwar reconstruction; its
bombing caused many aid organizations to remove staff or whittle operations in a
blow to improving daily life.
Shiites leaders, while openly resentful of the American occupation, had
recommended patience - if not cooperation with the coalition. The Shiites stood
to benefit greatly under U.S. plans for rebuilding after decades of oppression
under Saddam.
The Najaf bombing set off a wave of criticism among Shiites for the U.S.
inability to provide security nearly four months after President Bush declared
major fighting.
U.S. officials believe militants from Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iran are
entering Iraq to attack Western interests. Bush said earlier this month that
more foreign "al-Qaida-type fighters" have moved in.
