Iraq Sunni clerics blame Shi’ite clerics for violence

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq’s leading Sunni Muslim religious
organization blamed top Shi’ite clerics on Thursday for
fuelling sectarian tension that has killed dozens of Sunnis
over the past 24 hours.

“The Muslim Clerics Association points the finger of blame
at certain Shi’ite religious authorities for calling for
demonstrations,” said spokesman Sheikh Abdul Salam al-Qubaisi.

In all but unprecedented criticism, the comments appeared
aimed at Iraq’s top Shi’ite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali
al-Sistani, who called for protests on Wednesday over an attack
on a Shi’ite shrine in the city of Samarra. Sistani also called
for restraint and said mosques should not be attacked.

Dozens of people, mostly minority Sunnis, were killed in
Baghdad and elsewhere after the bombing of a major Shi’ite
shrine in Samarra, police said.

Dozens of Sunni mosques were also attacked on Wednesday and
Shi’ite militias took to the streets.

Qubaisi also appealed to radical Shi’ite cleric Moqtada
al-Sadr to calm his supporters, who have been seen roaming in
the streets and appeared to have been at the forefront of the
violence.

“From here, I call on Moqtada al-Sadr to interfere because
some matters are linked to his group,” he said in a news
conference. “I remind Moqtada al-Sadr … that our blood was
mixed in Falluja, Sadr City, Kerbala and Najaf.”

Sadr is well-respected by Sunni leaders for his anti-U.S.
stance and has clashed with U.S. forces in the Shi’ite shrine
city of Najaf and the sprawling Shi’ite slum of Sadr City in
Baghdad. He has also spoken out against the U.S. military
presence in Iraq and its assault on Sunni areas.

(Reporting by Mussab al-Khairallah, writing by Lin
Noueihed, editing by Myra MacDonald; Baghdad newsroom)