BAGHDAD, May 21, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - An improvised congress of leading figures from Iraq Sunnis Saturday, May 21, demanded Interior Minister Bayan Baqer Solagh be sacked for the alleged involvement of his services in anti-Sunni killings.

“We ask for the creation of an independent investigation team to look into the murders, the torture of detainees and we demand the interior minister’s dismissal,” read a statement by some 1,000 Sunni representatives, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP)

“We condemn the raids and arrests of imams and worshippers in mosques under the cover of law,” the document added.

The Sunni representatives, gathering in Baghdad, accused the Shiite minister of being responsible for the assassination of several Sunnis, including three imams.

Mosque Closure

A mosque worker locks front door of the Al-Aasaf mosque in response to the Sunni call. (Reuters)

The unprecedented gathering took place as Sunni leaders declared a three-day closure of Baghdad’s mosques to protest against the assassinations, torture and arrests of Sunni preachers and worshippers.

“To stop the bloodshed, protect innocent civilians and in protest at these massacres, the Sunni Waqfs demanded to close mosques in Baghdad and its suburbs for three days [till Monday] as a peaceful demonstration that will be followed by further steps if Sunnis are targeted in the future,” IslamOnline.net quoted Sheikh Abdul Ghafour A-Samarrai as speaking at a Friday sermon.

Announcing the closure from Um Al-Qora mosque, the headquarters of the influential Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS), Samarrai said Friday, May 20, that what make matters worse is that such acts are being committed by “official and semi-official bodies.”

“There is no excuse for the killing of any Iraqi,” he added.

Samarrai, however, said the Sunnis are still keen on cementing Iraq’s unity and urge fellow ones to display restraint, demanding a thorough government investigation into such incidents.

The protest call was voiced last week by the main Sunni bodies in Iraq, including the AMS and Islamic Party. Sunni scholars further urged imams and Sunnis to stage a peaceful march Saturday, May 21, as a further sign of protest.

Sheikh Abdel Salam Al-Kubeisi said it is not an impromptu call, but it has been voiced in unison by Sunni scholars “inside and outside Iraq.”

“We want to send a message that our mosques are the target of attacks and bombings,” he told the worshippers Friday at Al-Ziyab mosque in Al-Amiriya district.

The move was prompted by a series of attacks last week on Sunni mosques in Baghdad. The attacks were blamed on the Shiite Badr Brigades militias, the military wing of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI).

The militia was further accused of abducting and killing worshippers and imams, stoking fears of sectarian strife that could slide towards civil war.

The Badr Brigades replaced the officially disbanded militia of the SCIRI, a main player in the United Iraqi Alliance, which won the lion’s share of seats in the new 275-member parliament.

A senior Badr official, Hadi Al-Amiri, denied last week the accusations of targeting Sunni scholars.

Friends and relatives gather for the funeral of a Sunni scholar who was slain by gunmen in Baghdad. (Reuters)

The closure move coincided with calls from both Sunni and Shiite leaders to display restraint amid heightened sectarian tensions in Iraq.

Shiite leader Abdel Aziz Al-Hakim called for Iraqi scholars to unite against the violence.

“We must preserve unity and fight against any attempts at discord that aim to divide Iraqis,” said Hakim, who heads SCIRI, in a statement carried by AFP.

“I call on all Iraqis not to give in to this (violence). I call on all Sunni and Shiite scholars to resist this violence aimed at them,” he said.

In the holy Shiite city of Najaf, Sheikh Sadr Addin Kubanji also appealed for calm, reflecting sermons up and down the country in both Sunni and Shiite mosques.

“We call on all sides to resort to wisdom,” he said. “Trading accusations is not correct as it can result in a sectarian strife.”

Shiite leader Moqtada Al-Sadr, for his part, further urged the Iraqi people to remain united in the face of the US-led occupation.

Sadr, the fiery Shiite leader who led two uprisings against US occupation troops in Iraq last year, told his supporters to avoid getting drawn into a sectarian conflict.

“You shall not let yourselves be the starting point of a sectarian strife,” Reuters quoted Sadr as saying.