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December 20, 2004
Iraq rounds up 51 suspects
Topics: Middle East News and PerspectivesNews.com.au (Australia) Dec 21 article reports:
IRAQI security forces have detained 51
suspects after the car bombing in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, and a
link has been found to the near-simultaneous strike in Karbala.
"We have 50 Iraqi suspects who are being held and interrogated," governor Adnan al-Zorfi said today.
"We also have arrested one suspect, who is an Arab national."
The death toll in Najaf has risen from 48 to 52 and the number of wounded from 90 to 145 in the car bombing that exploded about 400m from a funeral procession attended, Mr Zorfi said.
The bomb was detonated close to the Imam Ali Mausoleum, one of the holiest sites in the Shiite faith.
The bombing in Karbala, which killed 14 people and left 57 wounded, was clearly linked to the attack in Najaf, Mr Zorfi said.
"We have found a connection between the two bombings in Karbala and Najaf," he said.
"This operation is part of the sectarian war waged by terrorists both inside and outside Iraq to impede the democratic process and to cancel the elections."
National elections are scheduled to take place in Iraq on January 30.
Mr Zorfi blamed Saddam Hussein's old regime and Islamic fundamentalists for the attack.
"We think that it is the ousted regime's loyalists and Salafist terrorists who stand behind the attack," he said.
He also warned there were clear threats on the Shiites' reclusive spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who lives in Najaf and has been a major figure in Iraq's political machinations ahead of the elections.
"We have information that Sistani has been in danger for a long time," Mr Zorfi said.
Yesterday, a car had been turned away from the neighborhood where Ayatollah Sistani's offices were located, but it was not clear if the driver was a threat, he said. News.com.au (Austrailia)...
Posted by Hyscience at December 20, 2004 1:27 PM
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