 |
|
An
Iraqi gunman takes a position as another prepares a weapon during
a break in a gun battle with U.S. forces in the streets of Karbala
|
By
Aws al-Sharqy, IOL Correspondent
BAGHDAD,
October 21 (IslamOnline.net) - It is high time for Shiites and Sunnis in
Iraq to join hands in resisting the U.S.-led occupation of their country
and drive out the invaders, a Shiite imam said Tuesday, October 21,
echoing similar positions by Shiite figures.
The
policy shift - as Shiites had previously opted for peaceful resistance
of occupation - came after mounting confrontations between occupation
forces and Shiite, particularly the latest
clashes between U.S. soldiers and followers of Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr, which
left several Shiites dead and injured.
"The
injustices done to us during the era of (ousted Iraqi president) Saddam
Hussein and the religious discrimination we suffered over 35 years of
his iron-fisted rule were enough for Shiites not to resist the U.S.
forces, who ridded them of him," Shiite imam Haidar Abbas
al-Husseini told IslamOnline.net.
"Now
that the real intentions of the occupation authorities have surfaced -
notably after they have announced that they would stay in Iraq until
2006 and tend to exploit the country's sources - Shiites and Sunnis must
act in unison to drive the occupiers out of the country and break the
yoke of colonialism," he told IslamOnline.net.
Shiite
scholar Sheikh Mohammad Ali al-Muzaffar said Shiites' position towards
the U.S.-led occupation is not different "in essence" from
that held by the Sunnis.
"Shiite
authority Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim had called for showing self-restraint
to put the intentions of the occupiers to the test and to figure out
whether or not they came to liberate Iraq," Muzaffar said.
"But
as days went by, we found out that the occupation authorities have put
on the shelf the idea of liberation and replaced it with a permanent
occupation; hence, we felt it incumbent on us to take action and stand
up to their plans," he asserted.
Patience
Running Out
Sheik
Muzaffar warned the occupation authorities that Iraqis were running out
of patience.
"Iraqis
of every stripe would not stand the humiliation (of the U.S. occupation
forces)…We tell the occupiers: 'You should pull out of Iraq, otherwise
Sunni and Shiite fighters would wage a ferocious battle to liberate Iraq
of your desecration,'" he threatened.
The
Shiite scholar further said that the Shiites got furious at the U.S.
insistence on disarming Shiite fighters, who played a pivotal role in
guarding holy mausoleums and mosques after the failure of occupation
forces to do so.
"These
(occupation) forces have put their oar in everything and started pitting
Sunnis and Shiites against each other. Many observers opined that the
series of deadly bombings and assassinations targeting Shiites were the
brainchild of the Americans and their allies the Britons," the
Shiite scholar charged.
On
August 29, a car bomb explosion
killed at least 82 people, including Hakim, and wounded 229 others
outside one of Shiites' holiest shrines in the central Iraqi city of
An-Najaf.
Mortada
Ga'far al-Mousawi, a commander in Sadr's Al-Mahdi Army, said their
fighters were assembled to guard Shiite authorities and holy places in
An-Najaf and Karbala.
"But
just like other occupiers in history, the U.S. forces proved Shiites
into desecrating their holy places, insulting people, throwing scores
into detention camps worse than the ones set up by the ousted
president," Mousawi said.
"They
further cracked down hard on Al-Mahdi army, unjustifiably killed a
number of its members and desecrated An-Najaf and Karbala…That’s why
we opted now for resisting them and expelling them from our land,"
he stressed.
Mousawi
was further quick to deny that Shiites supported the occupation, citing
that they spearheaded the resistance against the British occupation in
the 1920s.
"We
had made the ultimate sacrifices for our country," he added.
Anti-U.S.
fervor has run high over the past few weeks among Shiites, who started
losing faith in the U.S. promises of a democratic Iraq.
Addressing
hundreds of Shiites earlier in the month, Sadr called
on Shiites and Iraqis to demonstrate peacefully if they agreed to a shadow
cabinet, which was rival to the U.S.-sanctioned Governing Council.
