Shi'ites march in Iraqi City after attack on cleric
( 2003-08-25 16:59) (Agencies)
Thousands of Shi'ite Muslims thronged the streets of the holy city of Najaf Monday for the funerals of three bodyguards killed in a bomb attack on the office of a top cleric.
Carrying posters of Ayatollah Mohammed Saeed al-Hakim, who suffered light neck wounds in Sunday's bombing, some blamed the attack on supporters of rival Shi'ite leader Moqtada al Sadr and called for revenge.
"This was Moqtada al Sadr. His people did it," said 60-year- old Muslim Raadi, part of the angry crowd of at least 2,000 which swarmed behind the three wooden coffins.
"Now there will be revenge. The only way to stop this is for the people of Najaf to stop it. We will have to form our own militia."
Power struggles in Najaf are a key influence on the political future of majority Shi'ite Iraq.
The Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), one of the country's main Shi'ite groups but criticized by some Shi'ites for cooperating with the U.S.-led administration in Baghdad, said it was the target of the attack.
Hakim is an uncle of SCIRI leader Ayatollah Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim, whose group is represented on the U.S.-backed Iraqi Governing Council that Washington sees as a first step toward turning the country into a democracy.
Some senior clerics blamed the killings on a group linked to Sadr, who has condemned the U.S. occupation and refused to join the council. Sadr's group denied the accusation.
The bombing took place near the Imam Ali mosque, tomb of Ali, a caliph and cousin of the Prophet Mohammed, and the most sacred Shi'ite site in Islam. Ten people were wounded in the attack which ripped a hole through the wall of Hakim's office.
Iraqi police wearing bullet-proof vests and armed with AK- 47s guarded the building Monday, although Hakim was not inside. U.S. troops were nowhere to be seen in the city, 150 km (90 miles) south of Baghdad.
Due to local religious sensitivities, U.S. troops have maintained a low profile in Najaf.
One man stood on a building and doused the funeral crowd with water. Some blamed the attack on foreigners, not in-fighting between Iraqi Shi'ites.
"This was either done by the Iranians or the Kuwaitis or the Wahabis in Saudi Arabia," said Mohamed Abdullah, a 42-year-old builder.
"I don't think this was between Shi'ite clerics. They should disagree with words not with bombs."
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