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Iraqi
soldiers stay outside a Sunni mosque to provide security in
Baghdad (Reuters).
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Additional
Reporting by Adel Abdel Halim, IOL Correspondent
BAGHDAD,
February 24, 2006 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – As calls
mounted for restraint over sectarian tension in the war-torn country,
Iraq has imposed a daytime curfew on Friday, February 24, in an effort
to stop series of sectarian attacks sparked by the bombing of a
celebrated Shiite shrine.
"No
one should move," one government source said of the curfew, which
was announced on state television, Reuters reported.
"Police
will detain anyone who goes out, even to go to prayers."
The
curfew took effect from 2000 (1700 GMT) on Thursday, February 23, and
will be in place until 1600 (1300 GMT) on Friday.
It
encompassed Baghdad and the provinces of Diyala, Babil and Salaheddine.
The
shutdown is expected to be re-imposed from Friday evening until
Saturday morning.
An
overnight curfew enforced over the past two days, which on Wednesday,
February 22, had already been extended by three hours, was further
extended till 4:00 pm (1300 GMT) on Friday in the four provinces.
Civilian
flights from Baghdad airport were cancelled.
The
move comes following the killing of at least 130 people in reprisal
attacks on Sunni mosques and people triggered by the bombing attack
that destroyed the golden dome of Imam Ali Al-Hadi shrine, one of
Iraq's most famous Shiite religious places, Wednesday.
The
Association of Muslim Scholars, the highest Sunni religious authority
in Iraq, has blamed some Shiite authorities of fueling the latest
sectarian tension.
Restraint
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Qaradawi
urged both Shiites and Sunnis to work together to bring the
situation under control before it is too late.
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Muslim
scholars have renewed calls for restraint and calm following the
latest series of the reprisal assaults in anarchy-mired Iraq.
"These
developments augur ill for Iraq and spell a devastating civil war,
which would neither serve the Sunnis or Shiites. It only serves the US
occupation of Iraq and the Zionist enemy," respected Sheikh Yusuf
Al-Qaradawi, president of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS),
said in a statement, a copy of which was obtained by IslamOnline.net.
"Islam
forbids attacks on mosques, shrines, scholars and on Muslims in
general.
"The
angry Shiite reaction over the shrine bombing could spark Sunni
reprisals, which would only aggravate the situation," added the
statement.
Qaradawi
questioned who would benefit from the bombing of the Shiite shrine.
"It
is unimaginable that the Sunnis, who guarded the shrine for long
years, to bomb it."
The
Muslim scholar urged both Shiites and Sunnis to work together to bring
the situation under control before it is too late.
"They
must join hands and stand against inciters," he stressed.
Grand
Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Mohamed Sayyed Tantawi also joined calls for
restraint, condemning attacks on religious places in Iraq.
"These
practices are rejected and cannot be accepted," he told a meeting
of the World Islamic Council for Da`wah and Aid.
Iraq's
Shiite leaders also urged Iraqis to observe unity and avoid sectarian
strife in the Muslim country.
Prime
Minister Ibrahim Jaafari has urged Shiite and Sunni religious leaders
to preach for unity and peace in their Friday sermons.
"We
must take advantage of Friday sermons to guide the people and speak
out in favor of unity," Jaafari said following a meeting with
Sunni religious leader Ahmad Abdel Ghaffur Al-Samarrai and Shiite
leader Sabah Al-Haidari.
Young
Shiite leader Muqtada Al-Sadr and Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim, leader of the
Shiite Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq, joined calls for
restraint.
On
Thursday, Al-Sadr has ordered the protection of the Sunni mosques in
the predominantly Shiites areas against reprisal attacks.
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