CAIRO, December 25 (IslamOnline.net) - The International Association of Muslim Scholars (IAMS) has warned of a “conspiracy” being concocted by the US occupation against Iraq’s national unity.

Denouncing the deadly bombings that rocked the holy Shiite cities of Najaf and Karbala last week, the IAMS urged Iraq’s Sunnis and Shiites to stand united in the face of this “conspiracy which is aimed at disrupting the Iraqi social fabric.”

“This conspiracy is based on igniting sectarian sedition and exaggerating differences between both communities,” it said in a statement, a copy of which was obtained by IslamOnline.net on Saturday, December 25.

“We exhort Sunni and Shiite scholars in Iraq to come together as soon as possible to explore ways of nipping these plots and intrigues in the bud and spread an atmosphere of fraternity and mercy.”

In May, Iraq's Sunnis and Shiites formed a pan-religious body to stream anti-occupation efforts.

The United Iraqi Scholars Group vowed to boycott any government handpicked by the US, with an agenda based on the legitimate resistance to end the occupation and keep the country united.

In its statement, the IAMS condemned the “heinous crimes” in Najaf and Karbala which claimed the lives of 66 Iraqis and left up to 150 others injured.

Iran’s spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei held the US and Israeli intelligence responsible for the two bombings.

Five days after the attacks, Muwafak Al-Douri, a leading member of the Association of Muslim Scholars, was shot dead by US occupation troops during a raid on his Baghdad house, a few hours before the Friday prayers.

The AMS, the highest Sunni religious authority in Iraq, repeatedly pointed the finger at the US-led occupation troops for assassinating dozens of its members and Sunni figures.

Iraq witnessed this year many attempts to provoke religious strife between the country’s different communities, but mainly focused on Shiites and Sunnis.

In March, coordinated bombings during a Shiite religious ceremony killed more than 180 in Baghdad and Karbala.

The IAMS also warned of the presence of a “fifth column” in Iraq, trying to tarnish the image of Islam by carrying out grisly attacks in the name of resistance.

“This column might well be linked to Zionist or international intelligence services,” the statement said.

It called on the “praiseworthy resistance groups” to condemn such indiscriminate bombings and expose the collaborators.

Concluding a two-day meeting in the Lebanese capital in November, the IAMS asked Iraqi resistance fighters not to target women, children and the elderly even if they were of the occupiers’ nationalities provided that they were not involved in hostilities.

It vigorously denounced the kidnapping and killing of civilians as an aggression against others, pressing for the swift release of all civilian hostages in Iraq.