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Iraq Sunni clerics blame Shi'ite clerics for violence

Posted on: Thursday, 23 February 2006, 05:56 CST

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)

Source: REUTERS

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