The magnitude of the attack on Hakim's life suggests foreign hands

By Aws al-Sharqi, IOL Correspondent

BAGHDAD, August 31 (IslamOnline.net) - The remnants of the ousted Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein, Al-Qaeda network and the Israeli intelligence service (Mossad) might be the prime suspects behind the assassination of leading Shiite scholar Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer al-Hakim in a deadly car bombing Friday, August 29, Iraqi analysts said on Sunday, August 31. 

"There is a common denominator between the assassination of Hakim, the bombings of U.N. Baghdad headquarters and the Jordanian capital, which is targeting a large number of innocent civilians," Dr. Anis al-Rawi, the dean of the faculty of science in Baghdad University told IslamOnlin.net.

Rawi, who heads the association of Muslim youths, said that the magnitude and precision of these blasts asserted that they were copycat attacks.

"I do think that the Mossad, which has gained a foothold in Iraq after the downfall of Baghdad, is the prime suspect in the spate of blasts," he added.

A car burst into flames Friday, August 29, outside the Tomb of Ali Mosque compound, one of the most sacred shrines for Shiites, moments after Hakim delivered Friday's sermon to thousands of faithful in the Shiite city of An-Najaf (180km south of Baghdad).

Thus far 95 others were confirmed killed and more than 200 wounded in the blast.

A spate of car bombings was kicked off with a blast at the Jordanian embassy three weeks ago and culminated in the bombing of U.N. Baghdad office and Friday's deadly blast.

Rawi did not rule out that the attacks had been carried out at the knowledge of the U.S. occupation authorities in Iraq "to ignite sectarian sedition and give the impression that a civil war is in the making."

"Spreading chaos and disorder serves best the interests of the occupation authorities and tightens their grip around Iraq," he said.

Occupation Hand

For his part, famed Iraqi intellectual Mohidin Ismail Al-Samerrai said the unity of the Iraqi people is now facing one of the most daunting tests.

"The Americans has gone crazy when they found out that the Sunnis and the Shiites are acting in unison and started weaving plots to undermine their unity and spark ethnic violence," Samerrai said.

"The (U.S.-led) occupation is behind the attack, particularly when they realized that a towering figure like Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir Al-Hakim has taken a moderate approach and asserted the importance of the unity of Iraqi factions, warning the occupation of prolonging their presence in Iraq," he added.

And he wondered: "How did such attacks come with this remarkable precision? And how did the perpetrators succeed in overcoming the U.S. control?"

"I believe that such blasts only serve the interests of the Americans and the Zionists," he answered.

Mohammad Mubarak, an Iraqi political analyst, described as "unbelievable" the magnitude of the blast, noting that invading Iraq was not for the liberation of Iraq.

"(But) It was a thorough U.S.-made strategy which is aimed at not only controlling the region but imposing its hegemony on the entire world," he added.

He continued: "The U.S. occupation troops have come to Iraq to stay forever, which can be achieved by the absence of Iraqi unity."

Mubarak further expected that the series of blasts and assassinations would go nonstop, casting doubts in the meanwhile on the fingers pointing at Al-Qaeda.

"It is a U.S. and a Zionist propaganda, which is aimed at distancing the U.S. and Israel from the attacks," he explained.

Al-Qaeda

Sheikh Hassan Gafar Al-Newab, the deputy secretary general of al-Nahj al-Islami (the Islamic approach) movement, said that it was very much likely that Osama Bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network is responsible for the latest spate of blasts.

"It is Al-Qaeda-type attacks, given media reports that some Al-Qaeda remnants had sneaked into the Iraqi territories," he said.

"Al-Qaeda is trying in launching such attacks to punish some bodies, which have not declared war against the occupation and sufficed to opt for peaceful resistance," he added.

Saddam Remnants

For his part, Sheikh Omar Sayeed Al-Jaderji, the head of the Muslim League association, held the remnants of Saddam accountable for the attacks.

He said that Saddam and his loyalists did not want Iraq to live in peace.

But he also held the U.S. troops responsible for the state of chaos and anarchy in post-war Iraq, urging the United Nations, the Arab League and all human rights organizations to press the occupation troops to live up to their duties of restoring security and curbing the increasingly mounting crime rates and assassinations.