Iraqi clerics call for end to hostilities
Sunni and Shiite leaders say the U.S. is at the root of continuing violence and should withdraw its troops.
By Solomon Moore
LA Times Staff Writer
November 26, 2006
BAGHDAD — Shiite and Sunni clerics, among the last vestige of authority in a country rapidly losing faith in politicians, charged Saturday that Iraq's plight was the result of U.S. mistakes and pleaded with their faithful to stem the bloodshed that followed a devastating attack on a mainly Shiite Baghdad neighborhood.
In interviews Saturday and in recent sermons, clerics articulated one message that appears to be gaining traction on both sides of Iraq's civil war: The U.S. presence is making matters worse, and the Americans should go home.
"The roots of our problems lie in the mistakes of the Americans committed right from the beginning of their occupation," said Sheik Ali Merza, a Shiite cleric in Najaf who is a leader of the Islamic Dawa Party.
Iraq's most prominent Sunni cleric expressed a similar viewpoint. At a Cairo news conference, Harith Dhari demanded that American troops withdraw.
"Since the beginning, the U.S. occupation drove Iraq from bad to worse," said Dhari, who became a fugitive this month after the Shiite-led government issued a warrant for his arrest on allegations that he has supported terrorism.
The increased focus by the clerics on the U.S. presence in Iraq comes as U.S. officials review a broad range of options to address the increasing violence and dwindling domestic support for the war. Options range from a short-term increase in the number of troops — which stands at 144,000 — to a phased withdrawal.
Vice President Dick Cheney made a quick visit Saturday to Saudi Arabia, a neighbor of Iraq and a regional power. Saudi Arabia also is a source of funds for Sunni Arab insurgents in Iraq.
President Bush is scheduled to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki in Jordan this week.
The clerics appealed for an end to retaliatory killings and kidnappings in the wake of a series of bombings Thursday in the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad that killed more than 200 people.
"The explosions we are witnessing and this series of attacks and killings only aim at triggering a sectarian war, which neither Shiites nor Sunnis will win," Sheik Abdul Aziz Mohammed, a Shiite cleric in Kirkuk, said in his most recent sermon. "The prophet Muhammad said religious strife is dead, and condemned anyone who attempts to resurrect it."
Khalil Maliki, a Shiite cleric based in the southern port city of Basra, also blamed the United States.
(There is more, here.)
By Solomon Moore
LA Times Staff Writer
November 26, 2006
BAGHDAD — Shiite and Sunni clerics, among the last vestige of authority in a country rapidly losing faith in politicians, charged Saturday that Iraq's plight was the result of U.S. mistakes and pleaded with their faithful to stem the bloodshed that followed a devastating attack on a mainly Shiite Baghdad neighborhood.
In interviews Saturday and in recent sermons, clerics articulated one message that appears to be gaining traction on both sides of Iraq's civil war: The U.S. presence is making matters worse, and the Americans should go home.
"The roots of our problems lie in the mistakes of the Americans committed right from the beginning of their occupation," said Sheik Ali Merza, a Shiite cleric in Najaf who is a leader of the Islamic Dawa Party.
Iraq's most prominent Sunni cleric expressed a similar viewpoint. At a Cairo news conference, Harith Dhari demanded that American troops withdraw.
"Since the beginning, the U.S. occupation drove Iraq from bad to worse," said Dhari, who became a fugitive this month after the Shiite-led government issued a warrant for his arrest on allegations that he has supported terrorism.
The increased focus by the clerics on the U.S. presence in Iraq comes as U.S. officials review a broad range of options to address the increasing violence and dwindling domestic support for the war. Options range from a short-term increase in the number of troops — which stands at 144,000 — to a phased withdrawal.
Vice President Dick Cheney made a quick visit Saturday to Saudi Arabia, a neighbor of Iraq and a regional power. Saudi Arabia also is a source of funds for Sunni Arab insurgents in Iraq.
President Bush is scheduled to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki in Jordan this week.
The clerics appealed for an end to retaliatory killings and kidnappings in the wake of a series of bombings Thursday in the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad that killed more than 200 people.
"The explosions we are witnessing and this series of attacks and killings only aim at triggering a sectarian war, which neither Shiites nor Sunnis will win," Sheik Abdul Aziz Mohammed, a Shiite cleric in Kirkuk, said in his most recent sermon. "The prophet Muhammad said religious strife is dead, and condemned anyone who attempts to resurrect it."
Khalil Maliki, a Shiite cleric based in the southern port city of Basra, also blamed the United States.
(There is more, here.)
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