Yemeni Shiites condemn Najaf bombing [Archives:2003/664/Front Page]

By Mohammed bin Sallam
Yemen Times Staff
and Reuters
Sana'a, August 31 – Yemeni Shiites in Al-Haq Party have openly condemned the Najaf bombing which killed around a hundred people, including the top Iraqi Shiite leader, Ayatollah Mohammed Baqer Al-Hakim.
Abdulkarim Al-Khaiwani, the head of the political office of the Al-Haq Party, known for its Shiite background, told Yemen Times that the Shiite community in Yemen was shocked and deeply saddened by this development and expressed his sorrow and grief for the victims of the explosion.
“The Shiites community in Yemen and all citizens alike have expressed sadness for the loss of Ayatollah Mohammed Baqer Al-Hakim, and would like to convey our condolences to the people of Iraq -Shiites and Sunnis- for this tragedy, which I feel will not result in any internal conflicts among Iraqis.” he said.
“It is clear that this explosion is of wicked intentions to destabilize Iraq and cause internal sectarian conflicts.”
“What happened to Al-Hakim is a crime, not aiming at his life alone, but at the unity of the Iraqi people. There are powers that wish to disintegrate the Iraqi state to be weak and vulnerable so they can continue to impose their control on it. The occupation is only one of many means used to cause more instability in Iraqis.”
Who is responsible?
About who he believes is responsible for this attack, Al-Khaiwani says, “The US-UK led occupation is mainly responsible for this crime because they prevented the Shiites from protecting their leaders and holy sites.”
“This has not been the first killing of such a prominent Shiite leader. Two Shiite leaders have also been killed, and a third targeted, which indicates a systematic assault against Iraq's Shiites, which is the largest group in the country.”
“Americans and enemies of Iraq are the only beneficiaries from this attack, and Al-Hakim was among the balanced scholars who called for the unity of Iraq, and who called for peaceful coexistence with all other sects.”
On the possibility of outbreak of internal violence in Iraq, Al-Khaiwani said, “Shiite scholars have always taken wise decisions and I believe would not take any hasty decisions. They are aware that the plans to cause internal conflicts are there and will continue, and hence will not serve those plans.”
“I believe that our Iraqi brothers will not fall prey to this plan and would maintain solidarity to resist occupation which has so far caused tremendous damage to the Iraqi people, Shiites, Sunnis, and from all other sects.”

Occupiers blamed
Even though coalition forces were blamed heavily by the Yemeni scholars, leading Shiites and Iraqi political figures were quick to blame supporters of ousted President Saddam Hussein for the assassination of Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim.
Some blamed America for failing to provide security and stability in post-occupation Iraq.
Meanwhile, Iran, which hosted al-Hakim in exile for more than two decades before his May 10 return to Iraq, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei condemned this killing of the slain cleric and praised his work and said that the attack only served “the aims of the arrogant United States and Zionists”.

Iraq mourns
Iraqi is mourned on Saturday the slaying of a leading Shiite Muslim cleric and scores of his followers in a car bomb attack which dealt a major blow to U.S. efforts to pacify postwar Iraq.
As the country began three days of national mourning for the victims of the blast in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, weeping relatives gathered to collect the bodies of loved ones from the mortuary and carried coffins through the streets.
The bomb went off close to the Imam Ali mosque just as Ayatollah Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim, the most prominent Shiite leader to back cooperation with the U.S.-led occupying authorities, was leaving the building after Friday prayers.
The city's chief pathologist said the death toll from the carnage in the area around the mosque stood at 87, with more than 200 people wounded.
“This is the greatest crime ever against the Muslims in this holiest place,” said Sheikh Ali Jabbar, a cleric at the mosque.
In central Baghdad, more than 2,000 Shiites marched to lament Hakim's killing. The bombing was the deadliest attack in Iraq since the official end of major combat in the war that ousted Saddam Hussein.
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