Iraqi officials on Wednesday multiplied their calls for calm fearing the attacks on Shiite Muslims that killed scores in two cities could radicalise the community just as it is tasting freedom.
In the hours that followed the suicide attacks on the Kazimyah mosque in northwest Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 70 and wounding 321, angry Shiites accused radical Sunnis of being responsible.
Some even pointed the finger at the neighbouring Shiite quarter of Adhamiyah.
In the holy city of Karbala, where at least 112 died and 235 were wounded, the pilgrims blamed Wahhabis, believers in a radical form of Sunni Islam from Saudi Arabia, and in particular Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
As anti-Iraqi attacks have increased ”Wahhabi” has become the term to describe foreign fundamentalist fighters come to destabilise Iraq as it is trying to rebuild almost a year after the war to oust dictator Saddam Hussein began.
But the nature of these ”foreigners” is difficult to discern and as no real trail has yet to emerge as to who carried out the attacks, it is feared that Shiites will take revenge on their Sunni compatriots.
”Everything is possible as long as there is no single leadership that everybody respects. One misplaced action can result in an explosion,” said Hatem al-Hassani, a member of the Sunni Iraqi People’s Party.
Under Saddam Hussein that leadership was imposed and the Shiites, who make up at least 60% of Iraq’s 25-million people, were oppressed for decades.
Now, with outbreaks of violence threatening, officials from both communities have been sending out calls for calm and patience.
”We call on all Iraq’s sons to show vigilance in the face of traps set by enemies and we exhort them to close ranks and speak with one voice to speed the handover of sovereignty,” said Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Iraq’s most influential Shiite religious leader, in a statement.
Abdel Aziz Hakim, head of the Shiite Supreme Council for the Islamic Republic in Iraq (Sciri), also called for ”restraint so that these cowards fail to achieve their aims and so there is no discord between Iraqis”.
”We urge the Shiite and Sunni parties to call for restraint from their supporters.” he said.
For the Kurdish leader Mahmud Othman, a member of the United States-appointed interim governing council, the goal of the attacks ”is to create problems between the Sunnis and the Shiites and we all have to be careful”.
”The leaders of the two communities must unite and cooperate to prevent this happening,” said Othman, who is Sunni Muslim.
In answer to the call, a convoy of about 50 Sunni Muslims travelled on Wednesday to the Kazimyah mosque in northwest Baghdad to show solidarity and express their condolences.
The leaders in the group all agreed — the attacks in Kerbala and Baghdad were aimed at sparking a religious war between Sunnis and Shiites.
The two cities were targeted just as Shiites were publicly celebrating their first Ashura holiday since the fall of Saddam — a time of self-flagellation in memory of the Imam Hussain who died with his supporters in the seventh century.
”Those who commit such terrorist atrocities want to divide Sunnis and Shiites, but they will fail because they do not realise one important thing about the Iraqi people — they remain united in the face of danger from abroad,” said Rajiha Habib Kurzai, a Shiite member of the governing council. — Sapa-AFP
170 dead in Iraq on festival day