“The crime has everything to do with the Zionist project in the region,” Khalsi

By Imam El-Leithy, IOL Correspondent

BAGHDAD, March 3 (IslamOnline.net) – As Iraq started Wednesday, March 3, three days of mourning for hundreds of Shiites killed in a deadly series of blasts a day earlier, Iraqis agreed that the heinous act could not be the work of Muslims or Iraqi with fingers pointing at foreign hands.

They also contested the U.S. ready-made Al-Qaeda version, casting doubts at an unsourced letter handed out by U.S. occupation forces and attributed to Al-Qaeda member Abu Mosab Al-Zarqawi, who allegedly claimed the blasts and accused the Shiites of betraying Iraq and Islam.

The explosions rocked  the Shiite holy city of Karbala and a Shiite mosque in Baghdad, killing at least 182 people and wounding scores others, as Shiites marked the death of Imam Al-Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

“Ashura, which is one of the most revered religious occasions for Iraqis, was blemished by foreign hands,” Al-Sayed Nusir Al-Jadarji, member of the U.S.-appointed interim Governing Council, told IslamOnline.net.

“Iraqis, Sunni or of any other religious community, cannot be responsible for that,” he asserted.

Warning that the situation might slip out of control, Jadarji said such terrorist acts will not force Iraqis to put their independence dreams on the backburner.

He said sticking to democracy and justice “is the one and only way to head off an internecine conflict”.

‘Zionist Project’ 

Iraqi mourners carry the coffins of people killed in Tuesday’s blasts (AFP)

The imam of Al-Kazem mosque, Sheikh Jawad Al-Khalsi, said that Muslims could not “by any stretch of the imagination” be behind such a crime.

“The crime has everything to do with the Zionist project in the region,” he told IOL. “It is crystal clear that the incident is a bid to pit the Iraqis against one another and ignite a sectarian sedition”.

“Even if it was made by Arab hands, it is a U.S. and Zionist brainchild”.

Blaming the U.S. occupation forces for the chaos countrywide, Khalsi said the alleged letter of Zarqawi is evidence that the Americans were behind destabilizing the country.

“But we mustn’t give room to an Islamic-Islamic confrontation [in Iraq]. We Muslims are resolved to get things under control and reject any mandates,” he said, referring to the U.S.-led occupation authorities.

Conspiracy

Foad Al-Rawi, member of the Islamic Party’s politburo, spoke about a “conspiracy” woven to divide the Iraqi people.

“We will remain united and such conspiracies will not break our ranks as we are all determined to win back our dignity and independence,” he said.

He also held the U.S. occupation accountable for the state of insecurity.

“Many were the times when we warned that saboteurs and enemies were infiltrating into Iraq through its porous borders,” he told IOL.

But he said the state of anarchy in Iraq should not be used as a pretext to delay a handover of power to Iraqis by the end of June.

“The spreading insecurity will not coerce Iraqis into giving up their right of running their own matters,” he vowed.

“We have now an interim constitution that can serve as a springboard for regulating our lives.”

Following marathon talks divided by ethnic and religious fault lines, the Iraqi council reached Monday, March 1, an agreement on the draft of the temporary code.

A U.S. spokesman, Garth Belly, denied that the Americans were behind the state of insecurity in Iraq.

He told IOL that there has been a coordination between the “coalition” forces and the Iraqi police, but the blasts were accurately planned a while ago.

He refused to comment on the hurling of U.S. forces by stones in the southern town of Al-Kazimiya following the blasts.

National Reconciliation

Adnan Al-Delemi, the head of the Sunni Waqfs (endowments), said there is a dire need now for a national reconciliation and defusing any sectarian sedition.

“We Iraqis should live up to our responsibilities and take over from the Americans. We should bring all parties and scholars together from now on to draw up a unified political and cultural platform. Difficult days do lie ahead,” he told IOL.

He said public welfare should be the first and foremost priority to bring on stability, adding that the interim constitution should be put into effect.

Refusing to level charges, Delemi, however, downplayed the importance of the letter distributed by the Americans, saying it was unsourced.

Al-Qaeda Distances Itself

Meanwhile, a statement attributed to Al-Qaeda on Wednesday denied it was responsible for the wave of anti-Shiite attacks in Baghdad and Karbala.

“We have nothing to do with these acts,” said the statement, which was obtained by the London-based Arab newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi and sent to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“We strike the American crusaders and their allies. We strike the Iraqi police that work for America, which uses them like a stick to beat the Mujahedeen [fighters] in Iraq,” said the statement, signed Abu Hafs Brigades/Al-Qaeda.

Journalists at the Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper said they believed the letter was genuine, the BBC News Online said.