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December 16, 2004
Shi'ites Bombed as Iraq Poll Campaign Begins
Topics: Middle East News and PerspectivesThe good news is that the Sunnis are probably going to lose out to the Shi'ites in the elections and will no longer dominate the until-Sadaam-fell oppressed Shi'ites. The bad news is that the Shi'ites are being influenced by Iran. Reuters via Wired News reports:
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A bomb near a Shi'ite shrine killed eight people and a fierce attack on Iran by a minister fueled fears of sectarian strife when campaigning began on Wednesday for Iraq's first election since Saddam Hussein's fall.
President Bush warned Syria and Iran not to interfere in Iraq and urged neighboring countries to help enforce border security before the Jan. 30 poll, likely to hand power to the long-oppressed majority Shi'ites at the expense of Saddam's fellow Sunnis.
"We will continue to make it clear to both Syria and Iran that ... meddling in the internal affairs of Iraq is not in their interests," Bush said in Washington without elaborating.
The bombing near the Imam Hussein shrine in the city of Kerbala also wounded 32 people -- one of them a senior Shi'ite cleric, Sheikh Abdul Mehdi al-Karbalai, a close follower of Iraq's top cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Aides said Karbalai was the target.
Previous attacks in Kerbala, including some claimed by Jordanian al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, have seemed designed to trigger civil conflict. Shi'ite leaders regularly warn against retaliation. Read More of Wired News....
Posted by Hyscience at December 16, 2004 12:19 AM
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- Shi'ites Bombed as Iraq Poll Campaign Begins - Dec 16, 2004
