At
least 81 others were killed and more than 200 wounded.
The
MSB-sealed statement said that such blasts "which target the
scholars of the Ummah (the Muslim nation) and its towering
authorities" were primarily aimed at "spreading chaos and
unrest in post-war Iraq."
It
urged the people of Iraq to "act in unison and root out sectarian
sedition," warning that the "evildoers are trying their best
to pit the Iraqis against each other, which plays into the hands of the
enemies of Iraq, who desire nothing but misfortunes for the
Iraqis."
Hakim's
death came five days after the attempted assassination in Najaf of Grand
Ayatollah Mohammad Sayeed al-Hakim, one of the top Shiite religious
authorities. The grand ayatollah escaped but three people were killed in
that attack.
For
his part, the MSB spokesman, Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abdul Gabar, warned of
the "conspiracies" being weaved by "the enemies of Iraq
and Islam" to ignite a civil and ethnic war in the war-ravaged
country.
"With
a closer look on the latest developments in the country, one can easily
find out that a wide-scale conspiracy is being weaved against Iraq and
sense that a civil war is in the making," Abdul Gabbar told IOL.
He
also said that the MSB vehemently denounced the series of deadly
bombings that targeted civilians and Muslim scholars, slamming them as
"have nothing to do with Islam and serve best the interests of the
enemies of Islam and Iraq."
"We
Sunnis and Shiites alike are unified against such an act, which should
be also condemned by anyone who loves this country," Abdul Gabbar
added.
Who
Gains?
Dr.
Mo'ed Ibrahim al-Azami, the Imam of Abu Hanifa al-Numan mosque, also
joined the line of condemnations.
"There
remains a big question: Serving the interests of whom?" Azami
asked, referring the spate of deadly blasts.
"Definitely,
there is a foreign hand that works on driving a wedge in the unity of
Muslims in Iraq," he answered.
"The
latest bombings of the Jordanian embassy, the U.N. headquarters, and the
failed assassination of Mohammad Sayeed al-Hakim are all acts of
sabotage," he added.
For
his part, Egypt's Mufti Dr. Ahmad al-Tayib condemned the attack, noting
that it came in a delicate time when the Iraqis were in a dire need to
act in harmony in light of their current ordeal.
No
Sunni Hand
Sheikh
Ahmad al-Kubeisi, an Iraqi Sunni leader, also said that that Shiites did
not charged the Sunnis with being behind the assassination of Hakim.
He
categorically denied that the Sunnis were behind the deadly attack.
"Undoubtedly,
the Sunnis do not harbor enmity for the Shiites or Sheikh Hakim,"
he said, praising Hakim as one of the men of rallying calls in Iraq.
He
said Hakim had not identified himself in his sermons as a representative
of the Iraqi Shiites but of all Muslims in Iraq.
Kubeisi
further said that that all Sunnis in Iraq were flocking to offer their
heartfelt condolences for the Shiites and take part in paying their last
respect for the veteran Muslim scholar.
"He
died as a martyr and we all hope to win martyrdom. He was a moderate man
of acumen and strong personality, who acted wisely in the face of the
U.S.-led occupation," Kubeisi mourned Hakim.
He
asserted that the perpetrators of such an act "are the enemies of
Islam, who want to see an end to this religion."
He
also accused foreign hands of being behind the attack, asserting that
Iraqis did not have the potentials for planning such a shuddering blast.
Kubeisi
warned that the U.S.-led occupation might take the latest series of
bombings as a pretext for withdrawing from the country, noting that it
was incumbent upon them to restore order and security first to Iraq.
He
cited the American experience in Somalia, when the U.S. pulled its
troops out of the country and left it for a ferocious civil conflict.
Faisal
Mawlwi, the secretary general of Al-Jama al-Islamia in Lebanon,
condemned the attack as "a crime in the broad sense of word,"
calling on the Sunnis and the Shiites to make every effort to foil any
attempt to ignite ethnic violence.
He
said the Shiites have not leveled any charges against the Sunnis,
asserting that al fingers were pointed at the agents of the U.S.
occupation and the remnants of ousted president Saddam Hussein.
The
Muslim Brotherhood, for their part, asserted in a statement e-mailed to
IOL their condemnation for the attack on Hakim's life, expressing their
shock at the "the deplorable disaster" and "heinous
crime."
