Shrine blast sparks protests Shrine blast sparks protests
Thursday, February 23, 2006 - ©2005 IranMania.com
LONDON, February 23 (IranMania) - Tens of thousands of people have staged protests across Iraq after a bomb attack heavily damaged one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam, BBC reported.
Dozens of Sunni mosques are reported to have been targeted in revenge attacks after a gang blew up the golden dome of the al-Askari shrine in Samarra.
Iraq's top Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has appealed for calm and called for a week of mourning.
It comes a day after 22 people died in a bombing in Shia district of Baghdad.
No-one has claimed responsibility for the attack on the shrine, although Iraqi television said several people had been arrested in connection with the bombing, BBC added.
The BBC's Jon Brain in Baghdad says the attack was almost certainly designed to raise the existing tensions between the majority Shia and minority Sunni populations.
Clashes: Following the attack on the al-Askari shrine, thousands of demonstrators gathered near the site, waving Iraqi flags and calling for justice.
Shia leaders have called for calm amid soaring anger: "We demand an investigation so that the criminals who did this will be punished.
"If the government fails to do so, then we will take up arms and chase the people behind this attack," one of the protesters, 28-year-old Mahmoud al-Samarie, was quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying.
Protests and violence broke out across Iraq: In Basra, gunmen attack Sunni mosques and exchange fire with guards at an office of the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party.
In Baghdad, a Sunni mosque in Baladiya district is raked with gunfire, while black-clad militiamen of the Shia Mehdi Army demonstrate in Sadr City.
Tens of thousands of protesters rally in the southern Shia city of Karbala, AFP news agency reports.
The Shrine should be rebuilt and the United States will contribute to its reconstruction
US statement: Businesses shut down in Najaf and about 1,000 march through the streets, waving flags and shouting slogans Markets, shops and stalls close in Diwaniyah, AP says.
A Mehdi Army militiaman is killed in clashes after gunmen from the faction attack Sunni houses, Reuters news agency reports.
About 3,000 people demonstrate in the Shia city of Kut, chanting anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans and burning US and Israeli flags, AP says.
National mourning: The al-Askari shrine is one of two tombs in Samarra for revered Shia imams, which attract pilgrims from around the world.
The golden dome of the shrine - part of the Imam Ali al-Hadi mausoleum - was reduced to a shell of brown masonry and twisted metal.
Despite soaring anger, Ayatollah Sistani, widely regarded as a moderate, urged Shias not to attack Sunni Muslims or their holy places and called a week of national mourning, BBC noted.
Iraq's Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari, a Shia, appeared live on television to declare three days of mourning.
Firebrand Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr cut short a visit to Lebanon on hearing news of the attack.
The US called the bombers "enemies of all faiths and of all humanity" and vowed to hunt down those responsible.
Washington's ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, and the top US commander in the country, Gen George Casey, issued a joint statement saying the US would contribute to the shrine's reconstruction.
In London, UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw called the bombing a "criminal and sacrilegious act", but urged all Iraqis to show restraint and avoid retaliation.