|
Inquiry urged into warning of Iraq shrine bomb
By Mariam Karouny and Waleed Ibrahim
03/02/06 -- BAGHDAD (Reuters)
- Iraqi politicians demanded an
inquiry on Wednesday into why the government did not act on a
warning about a plan to bomb a Shi'ite shrine, an attack that has
brought the country to the brink of civil war.
Government and political sources told Reuters the minister for
national security sent a report to the government two weeks before
last Wednesday's demolition of the Golden Mosque in Samarra saying
security had been breached around the shrine.
But the government ignored it, they said.
"He sent a report saying they had received information of attacks
being prepared against Shi'ite shrines," one official in the
government said on Tuesday, criticizing the inaction of the Shi'ite-led
interim administration.
"This shows you the incompetence," the senior official said.
Mithal al-Alusi, an independent Sunni member of parliament, said on
Wednesday: "I call for a political-judicial committee to be
established immediately to check out these reports."
A spokesman for the main minority Sunni political bloc, the Iraqi
Accordance Front, said the government's apparent failure to act
raised questions about its role in the incident.
"The report indicates the role of the government was greater than
just ignoring the warning," said Zafeer al-Ani.
"I believe the government is involved either directly or indirectly
through the use of some security forces."
Iraqi and U.S. officials have blamed the Samarra bomb on al Qaeda,
saying the group is trying to sow sectarian discord in an attempt to
destroy Iraq's progress toward democracy.
But al Qaeda and two Sunni militant groups have accused Shi'ites of
carrying it out to create a justification for launching reprisals
against Sunnis.
Also on Wednesday, pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat newspaper said it had
obtained a copy of the security minister's report and that it
contained a specific warning about the Samarra mosque.
CONTROVERSY
The minister, Abdul Karim al-Enazy, told Reuters he did warn the
government that militants were planning attacks against Shi'ite
shrines, but insisted the report referred to Kerbala.
Enazy, a Shi'ite, said Samarra was not mentioned at all, despite
assertions to the contrary by other officials. National Security
Adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie denied that any such report even existed.
But a government official, from outside the Shi'ite bloc, said:
"Samarra was mentioned by name in the report. Whatever they say now
is not true."
Rubaie told Reuters on Tuesday that four guards protecting the
Shi'ite shrine were arrested as suspects in the attack along with
six others.
Enazy said questions remained over why the bombers, who spent long
hours planting explosives overnight, did not kill any of the eight
guards, who were found tied up but unharmed.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Click below to post a comment on this article
Translate
this page
(In accordance with Title 17
U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to
those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the
included information for research and educational purposes.
Information Clearing House has no affiliation whatsoever with the
originator of this article nor is Information Clearing House
endorsed or sponsored by the originator.) |
