One of the most sacred shrines of Shia Islam suffered minor damage during clashes on Tuesday between United States forces and radical Shiite militiamen that killed at least 13 Iraqis, some of them civilians. It was unclear who was responsible for the damage to the shrine.
In Baghdad, a car bomb near a hotel wounded at least five Iraqis, the US military said. The target of the blast, about 90m from the Australian embassy, was not immediately clear.
Later on Tuesday, thunderous explosions rocked central Baghdad, but the cause was unknown. Gunfire also was heard.
Police sealed off Saadoun Street, which includes the square where the statue of Saddam Hussein was pulled down on April 9 2003. A US helicopter landed in the square and evacuated at least one wounded person as American troops and military vehicles provided security.
After the fighting in Najaf eased, people gathered at the Imam Ali shrine to look at the damage. The inner gate of the shrine, leading into the tomb of Imam Ali Ibn Abu Talib, appeared to have been hit by a projectile. Debris was scattered on the ground.
Al-Jazeera television showed a torn veil covering the gate, and damage on the wall around it. It also showed several injured people lying on the floor of the mosque compound, and an angry crowd of more than 100 shouting and shaking their fists at the site.
Supporters of Shiite militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr accused the Americans of firing mortars at the mosque, and said 12 people were injured in the mosque compound. In Baghdad, US army Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt told Al-Jazeera that the shell that fell on the shrine was not American and was not fired by coalition forces.
Another projectile landed outside the shrine, about 9m from the outer wall. Three militiamen were injured in that attack, and three fighters were killed in fighting in the city, al-Sadr’s office said.
Imam Ali was the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law and he is the most revered saint among Shiite Muslims.
Fighting in Najaf and other Shiite shrine cities south of Baghdad have raised alarm among Shiite Muslims throughout the world who fear damage to the sacred sites.
US officials say they have been careful to avoid damaging the shrines and have accused al-Sadr of using holy places to store weapons and seek sanctuary.
Al-Sadr launched his uprising in early April after the US-led occupation authority cracked down on him, closing his newspaper, arresting a key aide and issuing a warrant against the young cleric relating to the 2003 murder of a moderate religious leader.
The latest violence comes after US President George Bush said in a speech on Monday night that the US will stay in Iraq until it is democratic and a long-awaited US-British blueprint for a post-occupation Iraqi government is presented to the United Nations Security Council.
Iraqi Defence Minister Ali Alawi said he expects the country’s security forces to be ready to take over duties from foreign soldiers within a year.
”The timing of a presence of a multinational force, it is a question of months rather than years,” Alawi said at a news conference in London with his British counterpart, Geoff Hoon. ”The multinational force will need to be replaced by an indigenous force, an Iraqi force, in the course of a year.”
The fighting in Najaf was some of the fiercest since battles erupted there last month.
Explosions and gunfire were heard around the city’s Revolution of 1920 Square and the cemetery, a warren of paths and tombs that offers many hiding places for rebels armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
Eight people were killed and 18 injured in Najaf in fighting overnight and during the day on Tuesday, said Seyed Kifah Shemal, an official at Hakim General hospital. Two people died and 14 were injured in overnight fighting in Kufa, said Riyadh Kadhem, a nurse at the Forat al-Awsat hospital in Kufa. They said the casualties were mostly civilians.
In Baghdad, police believed the car bomb may have targeted the Australian embassy, and that it detonated prematurely.
The Australian government said its troops in Iraq are still investigating.
Australia sent 2 000 troops to take part in the invasion of Iraq and still has 850 military personnel in and around the country.
The attack in the Jadiriyah district occurred about 50m from the Karma hotel, where foreign journalists and UN weapons inspectors used to stay before the war that ousted Saddam.
US army Colonel Mike Murray said he did not believe there were Westerners at the hotel.
”We don’t know if it was a suicide bomber or not,” Murray said.
He said five Iraqis were injured, including a 10-year-old boy who was critically hurt. Windows in some nearby buildings were shattered.
Also on Tuesday, saboteurs detonated explosives at a bridge in the town of Numaniya, destroying part of it and disrupting traffic.
Witnesses said coalition forces had often used the bridge southeast of Baghdad. Ukrainian and Polish troops, who are based in the area, rushed to the scene.
Also on Tuesday, a Turkish official said a bomb stopped the flow of Iraqi oil to a key export terminal in Turkey, cutting Iraq’s export capacity by about 400 000 barrels a day. The explosion on Monday damaged parts of a twin pipeline from Iraqi oil fields near the northern city of Kirkuk to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, the Turkish official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Iraq’s total exports have recently averaged about 1,65-million barrels a day. — Sapa-AP