Al-Sadr group seeks Arab intervention

[Dover]

Al-Sadr group seeks Arab intervention


Thursday 12 August 2004, 16:47 Makka Time, 13:47 GMT

Abd al-Hadi al-Darraji, official spokesman of al-Sadr in Baghdad, told Aljazeera in an interview on Thursday that the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf was surrounded by US occupation troops.

Najaf is cut off completely and under heavy bombardment, al-Darraji said. "A shell was fired at the main entrance of the Imam Ali shrine indicating they have surrounded it," he said.

"I call on the Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS) to issue a fatwa preventing the the US occupation from entering the shrine," he said.
Muslims must also condemn this "criminal acts", the spokesman said.
"The entire Arab and Islamic world should refuse this tyranny. They should try to work out a ceasefire immediately," al-Darraji added.

Warning

Al-Darraji warned that if US occupation forces entered the Imam Ali shrine or tried to capture Muqtada al-Sadr, there will be bloodshed all over the country....cont'd

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/0E7841EF-96D6-4BAB-BCFA-86D5FD2D04FA.htm

[wtmusic]

1. We have your country, now we want your pride too

Sickening.

[stellanoir]

2. they fired at the door. . .

this is such a horror show.

Reaction to an assault will not be isolated to Iraq. Remember Iran is predominantly Shia.

[Geo55]

3. We've come a long way from "dead enders"

and a handful of Saddam loyalists.
Al-Darraji warned that if US occupation forces entered the Imam Ali shrine or tried to capture Muqtada al-Sadr, there will be bloodshed all over the country.

US forces have been warned not
to approach the Imam Ali shrine


"We will not stay silent. We will

liberate Iraq

fighting under al-Sadr," he said.

They will liberate from the liberaters....what a fine mess.

[Dover]

4. Imam Ali Mosque......more info/history/pictures

Imam Ali Mosque


In the middle of the city there is the Shrine of the Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib with its resplendent golden dome and minarets. Great quantities of priceless objects, gifts of potentates and sultans, are treasured in the mosque. Historians say the tomb of Ali at Najaf was very likely built by Azoud ad Dowleh in 977; that it was burnt later and rebuilt by the Seljuk Malik Shah in 1086; and rebuilt yet again by Ismail Shah, the Safawid, in about 1500. No doubt numerous other hands have tinkered with it since. The tomb has the same style as those of Kerbela, Samarra and Kadhimain.

Ali is considered the leader of the Shia. He was the cousin and the son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed. And after the Prophet Mohammed died, Shiites thought that he should be the successor after the Prophet's death because he was married to the Prophet's daughter, and he was assigned by the prophet to be the carrier of the message after Mohammed's death. He was murdered 19 years before the Karbala massacre in the doorway of his recently completed mosque at Kufa.

In 1991, Saddam damaged the Imam Ali Mosque because most of the people who rebelled and were part of the uprising against Saddam Hussain's government, were hiding in that mosque and they were taking it as a place of leadership. And so the Republican Guards fought the people, damaged that mosque and killed all the people who were inside. General Wafiq Al Samarae admitted in his book (Eastern Gate Ruins) that Saddam's regime used chemical weapons against Iraqi people in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala to crush the popular uprising of March 1991 which followed the defeat of Saddam in invading Kuwait.

Shi’a groups report capturing documents from the security services during the 1991 uprising that listed thousands of forbidden Shi’a religious writings. Since 1991 security forces had been encamped in the shrine to Imam Ali in Najaf, one of Shi’a Islam's holiest sites, and at the city’s Shi’a theological schools. The shrine was closed for "repairs" for approximately 2 years after the 1991 uprising.
..cont'd

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/an-najaf-imam-ali.htm

And a great site on Najaf and the Imam Ali Mosque:

http://www.victorynewsmagazine.com/HolyShrineImamAliANajaf.htm

[Joanne98]

5. Marines Take Centre at Najaf

NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. marines backed by tanks and aircraft have seized the heart of the holy Iraqi city of Najaf in a major assault on Shi'ite rebels, but they kept out of a site sacred to millions of Shi'ites around the world.

Warplanes and Apache helicopters pounded militia positions in a cemetery near the Imam Ali Mosque on Thursday, igniting protests in at least two other cities as an uprising that has killed hundreds across southern and central Iraq entered its second week.

The assault against the Mehdi Army of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and growing anger among the majority Shi'ite community could spark a firestorm for interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi should holy sites be damaged or the death toll escalate.

Thick black smoke poured into the sky as helicopters skimmed mud-brick rooftops in the heart of Najaf. Soon after midday, marines controlled the city centre and had blocked entry to the mosque, one of Shi'ite Islam's holiest sites, a witness said.

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=563912§ion=news

[jukes]

6. the occupation

is purposely fanning the flames.

[Dover]

7. yes, it does seem so.

I'm not convinced Bushco doesn't WANT a holy war in the M.E.