Sectarian Violence Kills Over 100 in Iraq; Shiite-Sunni Anger Flares Following Bombing of Shrine

Clashes between rival Muslim sects and other violence Thursdaykilled more than 100 people across Iraq, including several Sunni Arabclerics, and left dozens of Sunni mosques in ruins or occupied byShiite Muslim militias, a day after bombers destroyed a reveredShiite shrine.

In the day's bloodiest attack, 47 people were forced from theirvehicles by gunmen, who shot them dead and dumped their bodies in aditch near Baqubah, north of Baghdad. The victims included Sunnis andShiites, many of whom were on their way to attend a protest againstWednesday's bombing in the city of Samarra, according to Gen. Amir al-Jubouri, police chief in Diyala province.

Also Thursday, the U.S. military announced the deaths of sevenAmerican soldiers in two roadside bombings Wednesday near thenorthern town of Hawijah.

The surge in violence, sparked by the destruction of Samarra'sgold-domed Askariya shrine, comes at a time of political transitionand uncertainty, with leaders of Iraq's largest factions mired innegotiations over the composition of the next government. Prospectsfor a political resolution suffered Thursday when Sunni Arabpolitical leaders abruptly withdrew from talks with Iraq's Shiiteruling parties, blaming the police and army for failing to preventretaliatory attacks -- and, in some cases, for participating inthem.

Several clerics, politicians and other Iraqis said Thursday thatrelations between Sunnis and Shiites were at their most tense sincethe 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

Long ruled by its Sunni Arab minority, Iraq has experienced afundamental political shift since the fall of President SaddamHussein. The Shiite majority, repressed during Hussein's rule, haswon the most votes in two successive elections, giving Shiite partiescontrol of the country's security forces. At the same time, SunniArabs have bridled at their loss of influence and privilege -- initially rejecting the new political system but recently moving tojoin the process. Sectarian violence, however, has flaredsporadically since Hussein's fall, and intensified since the middleof last year.

"Civil war will become a reality if we allow the extremists onboth sides to take the reins in their hands and direct the others,"said Husham Hussein, 29, a Sunni who works as a trader in the Baghdadneighborhood of Mansour. "But I hope we will have enough sense toavert that."

"The young people are very uptight. There is a fire smoldering inthem under the ash," said Abbas Ridha al-Zubaidi, imam of a Shiitemosque in Karrada, a predominantly Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad. Hesaid that after the Samarra bombing, a group of youths from theneighborhood came to him and asked if they could attack nearby Sunnimosques. "I told them it was forbidden," he said.

Late Thursday night, the government announced a curfew in fourprovinces -- Baghdad, Salahuddin, Diyala and Babil -- until atleast 4 p.m. Friday, banning people from the streets on a day whenmillions nationwide attend weekly prayer services. A curfew from 8p.m. to 6 a.m. was already in effect nationwide.

Mixed among pleas for calm by religious and political leaders wereinflammatory accusations and thinly veiled calls to arms. "Thesituation is still intense, especially after the miserable andashamed reaction of the government's security forces, which were asusual either audience or participant," said Tariq al-Hashimi, aleader of the Iraqi Accordance Front, a coalition of Sunni parties.

The Sunni bloc, which said more than 100 mosques had been damagedin attacks or occupied by Shiite Muslim militias after the Samarrabombing, declined to attend talks aimed at stopping the violencescheduled for Thursday morning and led by President Jalal Talabani.The Sunnis angered participants by sending a list of written demandsthat they said must be met before they would return to negotiationson a new government, according to officials in attendance.

Sunni leaders attributed the reprisals to the Mahdi Army, amilitia led by Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, which took to thestreets of Baghdad on Wednesday. Sadr's black-clad followers weresaid to be occupying Sunni mosques in Baghdad and several southerncities.

"I call on Sayyid Moqtada Sadr and remind him what happened to theblood of both of us in Fallujah, Karbala and Najaf" during Sunni andShiite uprisings against U.S. forces in 2004, said Abdul Salam al-Kubaisi of the Association of Muslim Scholars, a leading Sunnireligious group, using a Muslim title of respect. The associationsaid 10 of its imams had been killed in the recent violence. "Wedemand Sayyid Sadr to intervene."

On Thursday, Sadr called on followers to continue demonstratingand said the Mahdi Army would "protect the holy sites in Samarra inspecific and the mosques and shrines in general."

Thousands attended peaceful demonstrations against the Samarrabombing in the Shiite-majority southern city of Najaf and the diversenorthern city of Kirkuk. Protesters also gathered in Samarra, wherepolice on Thursday found the bodies of three Iraqi journalists. AtwarBahjat, a correspondent with al-Arabiya television, and two employeesof al-Wasan television were abducted a day earlier while covering theaftermath of the bombing, according to al-Arabiya reporter Ahmed al-Salih, who managed to evade the kidnappers.

Baghdad was largely quiet on the first day of a government-declared mourning period to mark the destruction of the Samarrashrine, with shops shuttered and only light traffic on the streets.Several residents said they were stocking up on food and othersupplies, and few women or children were seen outdoors -- often asign that people are braced for violence.

The capital's main morgue overflowed with more than 80 bodiesstrewn throughout rooms and corridors, after a night in which bandsof roving gunmen were seen in several neighborhoods, some of whoseresidents reported taking up arms to defend their homes and religiouscenters.

Scars of the retaliatory violence were widely evident. In Idreesi,east of downtown, a blackened Sunni mosque, its windows shattered,was closed off behind a locked iron gate. Campaign posters for aSunni politician, Adnan al-Dulaimi, had been torn from the outerwall. Men had shot at the building with rifles Wednesday afternoon,residents said, before returning with drums of gasoline and settingthem ablaze.

"I think the worst has passed," said a Western diplomat inBaghdad, noting that there were fewer reports of violence duringdaylight hours Thursday. "But I do not say that we will never haveproblems like this again."

A U.S. military spokesman stressed that Iraqi security forces wereleading efforts to suppress the violence. "We're not seeing civil warignited in Iraq," said Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch. "We're seeing acompetent, capable Iraqi government using their security forces tocalm the storm."

Iraqi security officials told news services that as many as 10arrests had been made related to the Samarra bombing. Nationalsecurity adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie suggested in televised interviewsthat the attack bore the hallmark of the insurgent group al-Qaeda inIraq.

The mujaheddin shura, a council of insurgent groups including al-Qaeda in Iraq, issued a statement blaming the attack on the Iraqigovernment in "coordination" with Iran. The council said it waspreparing a "shocking" response to the "conspiracy."

Correspondents Ellen Knickmeyer and Nelson Hernandez and specialcorrespondents Omar Fekeiki and K.I. Ibrahim in Baghdad, HassanShammari in Baqubah and Saad Sarhan in Najaf contributed to thisreport.

Sectarian Violence Kills Over 100 in Iraq; Shiite-Sunni Anger Flares Following Bombing of Shrine

Clashes between rival Muslim sects and other violence Thursdaykilled more than 100 people across Iraq, including several Sunni Arabclerics, and left dozens of Sunni mosques in ruins or occupied byShiite Muslim militias, a day after bombers destroyed a reveredShiite shrine.

In the day's bloodiest attack, 47 people were forced from theirvehicles by gunmen, who shot them dead and dumped their bodies in aditch near Baqubah, north of Baghdad. The victims included Sunnis andShiites, many of whom were on their way to attend a protest againstWednesday's bombing in the city of Samarra, according to Gen. Amir al-Jubouri, police chief in Diyala province.

Also Thursday, the U.S. military announced the deaths of sevenAmerican soldiers in two roadside bombings Wednesday near thenorthern town of Hawijah.

The surge in violence, sparked by the destruction of Samarra'sgold-domed Askariya shrine, comes at a time of political transitionand uncertainty, with leaders of Iraq's largest factions mired innegotiations over the composition of the next government. Prospectsfor a political resolution suffered Thursday when Sunni Arabpolitical leaders abruptly withdrew from talks with Iraq's Shiiteruling parties, blaming the police and army for failing to preventretaliatory attacks -- and, in some cases, for participating inthem.

Several clerics, politicians and other Iraqis said Thursday thatrelations between Sunnis and Shiites were at their most tense sincethe 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

Long ruled by its Sunni Arab minority, Iraq has experienced afundamental political shift since the fall of President SaddamHussein. The Shiite majority, repressed during Hussein's rule, haswon the most votes in two successive elections, giving Shiite partiescontrol of the country's security forces. At the same time, SunniArabs have bridled at their loss of influence and privilege -- initially rejecting the new political system but recently moving tojoin the process. Sectarian violence, however, has flaredsporadically since Hussein's fall, and intensified since the middleof last year.

"Civil war will become a reality if we allow the extremists onboth sides to take the reins in their hands and direct the others,"said Husham Hussein, 29, a Sunni who works as a trader in the Baghdadneighborhood of Mansour. "But I hope we will have enough sense toavert that."

"The young people are very uptight. There is a fire smoldering inthem under the ash," said Abbas Ridha al-Zubaidi, imam of a Shiitemosque in Karrada, a predominantly Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad. Hesaid that after the Samarra bombing, a group of youths from theneighborhood came to him and asked if they could attack nearby Sunnimosques. "I told them it was forbidden," he said.

Late Thursday night, the government announced a curfew in fourprovinces -- Baghdad, Salahuddin, Diyala and Babil -- until atleast 4 p.m. Friday, banning people from the streets on a day whenmillions nationwide attend weekly prayer services. A curfew from 8p.m. to 6 a.m. was already in effect nationwide.

Mixed among pleas for calm by religious and political leaders wereinflammatory accusations and thinly veiled calls to arms. "Thesituation is still intense, especially after the miserable andashamed reaction of the government's security forces, which were asusual either audience or participant," said Tariq al-Hashimi, aleader of the Iraqi Accordance Front, a coalition of Sunni parties.

The Sunni bloc, which said more than 100 mosques had been damagedin attacks or occupied by Shiite Muslim militias after the Samarrabombing, declined to attend talks aimed at stopping the violencescheduled for Thursday morning and led by President Jalal Talabani.The Sunnis angered participants by sending a list of written demandsthat they said must be met before they would return to negotiationson a new government, according to officials in attendance.

Sunni leaders attributed the reprisals to the Mahdi Army, amilitia led by Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, which took to thestreets of Baghdad on Wednesday. Sadr's black-clad followers weresaid to be occupying Sunni mosques in Baghdad and several southerncities.

"I call on Sayyid Moqtada Sadr and remind him what happened to theblood of both of us in Fallujah, Karbala and Najaf" during Sunni andShiite uprisings against U.S. forces in 2004, said Abdul Salam al-Kubaisi of the Association of Muslim Scholars, a leading Sunnireligious group, using a Muslim title of respect. The associationsaid 10 of its imams had been killed in the recent violence. "Wedemand Sayyid Sadr to intervene."

On Thursday, Sadr called on followers to continue demonstratingand said the Mahdi Army would "protect the holy sites in Samarra inspecific and the mosques and shrines in general."

Thousands attended peaceful demonstrations against the Samarrabombing in the Shiite-majority southern city of Najaf and the diversenorthern city of Kirkuk. Protesters also gathered in Samarra, wherepolice on Thursday found the bodies of three Iraqi journalists. AtwarBahjat, a correspondent with al-Arabiya television, and two employeesof al-Wasan television were abducted a day earlier while covering theaftermath of the bombing, according to al-Arabiya reporter Ahmed al-Salih, who managed to evade the kidnappers.

Baghdad was largely quiet on the first day of a government-declared mourning period to mark the destruction of the Samarrashrine, with shops shuttered and only light traffic on the streets.Several residents said they were stocking up on food and othersupplies, and few women or children were seen outdoors -- often asign that people are braced for violence.

The capital's main morgue overflowed with more than 80 bodiesstrewn throughout rooms and corridors, after a night in which bandsof roving gunmen were seen in several neighborhoods, some of whoseresidents reported taking up arms to defend their homes and religiouscenters.

Scars of the retaliatory violence were widely evident. In Idreesi,east of downtown, a blackened Sunni mosque, its windows shattered,was closed off behind a locked iron gate. Campaign posters for aSunni politician, Adnan al-Dulaimi, had been torn from the outerwall. Men had shot at the building with rifles Wednesday afternoon,residents said, before returning with drums of gasoline and settingthem ablaze.

"I think the worst has passed," said a Western diplomat inBaghdad, noting that there were fewer reports of violence duringdaylight hours Thursday. "But I do not say that we will never haveproblems like this again."

A U.S. military spokesman stressed that Iraqi security forces wereleading efforts to suppress the violence. "We're not seeing civil warignited in Iraq," said Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch. "We're seeing acompetent, capable Iraqi government using their security forces tocalm the storm."

Iraqi security officials told news services that as many as 10arrests had been made related to the Samarra bombing. Nationalsecurity adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie suggested in televised interviewsthat the attack bore the hallmark of the insurgent group al-Qaeda inIraq.

The mujaheddin shura, a council of insurgent groups including al-Qaeda in Iraq, issued a statement blaming the attack on the Iraqigovernment in "coordination" with Iran. The council said it waspreparing a "shocking" response to the "conspiracy."

Correspondents Ellen Knickmeyer and Nelson Hernandez and specialcorrespondents Omar Fekeiki and K.I. Ibrahim in Baghdad, HassanShammari in Baqubah and Saad Sarhan in Najaf contributed to thisreport.

Sectarian Violence Kills Over 100 in Iraq; Shiite-Sunni Anger Flares Following Bombing of Shrine

Clashes between rival Muslim sects and other violence Thursdaykilled more than 100 people across Iraq, including several Sunni Arabclerics, and left dozens of Sunni mosques in ruins or occupied byShiite Muslim militias, a day after bombers destroyed a reveredShiite shrine.

In the day's bloodiest attack, 47 people were forced from theirvehicles by gunmen, who shot them dead and dumped their bodies in aditch near Baqubah, north of Baghdad. The victims included Sunnis andShiites, many of whom were on their way to attend a protest againstWednesday's bombing in the city of Samarra, according to Gen. Amir al-Jubouri, police chief in Diyala province.

Also Thursday, the U.S. military announced the deaths of sevenAmerican soldiers in two roadside bombings Wednesday near thenorthern town of Hawijah.

The surge in violence, sparked by the destruction of Samarra'sgold-domed Askariya shrine, comes at a time of political transitionand uncertainty, with leaders of Iraq's largest factions mired innegotiations over the composition of the next government. Prospectsfor a political resolution suffered Thursday when Sunni Arabpolitical leaders abruptly withdrew from talks with Iraq's Shiiteruling parties, blaming the police and army for failing to preventretaliatory attacks -- and, in some cases, for participating inthem.

Several clerics, politicians and other Iraqis said Thursday thatrelations between Sunnis and Shiites were at their most tense sincethe 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

Long ruled by its Sunni Arab minority, Iraq has experienced afundamental political shift since the fall of President SaddamHussein. The Shiite majority, repressed during Hussein's rule, haswon the most votes in two successive elections, giving Shiite partiescontrol of the country's security forces. At the same time, SunniArabs have bridled at their loss of influence and privilege -- initially rejecting the new political system but recently moving tojoin the process. Sectarian violence, however, has flaredsporadically since Hussein's fall, and intensified since the middleof last year.

"Civil war will become a reality if we allow the extremists onboth sides to take the reins in their hands and direct the others,"said Husham Hussein, 29, a Sunni who works as a trader in the Baghdadneighborhood of Mansour. "But I hope we will have enough sense toavert that."

"The young people are very uptight. There is a fire smoldering inthem under the ash," said Abbas Ridha al-Zubaidi, imam of a Shiitemosque in Karrada, a predominantly Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad. Hesaid that after the Samarra bombing, a group of youths from theneighborhood came to him and asked if they could attack nearby Sunnimosques. "I told them it was forbidden," he said.

Late Thursday night, the government announced a curfew in fourprovinces -- Baghdad, Salahuddin, Diyala and Babil -- until atleast 4 p.m. Friday, banning people from the streets on a day whenmillions nationwide attend weekly prayer services. A curfew from 8p.m. to 6 a.m. was already in effect nationwide.

Mixed among pleas for calm by religious and political leaders wereinflammatory accusations and thinly veiled calls to arms. "Thesituation is still intense, especially after the miserable andashamed reaction of the government's security forces, which were asusual either audience or participant," said Tariq al-Hashimi, aleader of the Iraqi Accordance Front, a coalition of Sunni parties.

The Sunni bloc, which said more than 100 mosques had been damagedin attacks or occupied by Shiite Muslim militias after the Samarrabombing, declined to attend talks aimed at stopping the violencescheduled for Thursday morning and led by President Jalal Talabani.The Sunnis angered participants by sending a list of written demandsthat they said must be met before they would return to negotiationson a new government, according to officials in attendance.

Sunni leaders attributed the reprisals to the Mahdi Army, amilitia led by Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, which took to thestreets of Baghdad on Wednesday. Sadr's black-clad followers weresaid to be occupying Sunni mosques in Baghdad and several southerncities.

"I call on Sayyid Moqtada Sadr and remind him what happened to theblood of both of us in Fallujah, Karbala and Najaf" during Sunni andShiite uprisings against U.S. forces in 2004, said Abdul Salam al-Kubaisi of the Association of Muslim Scholars, a leading Sunnireligious group, using a Muslim title of respect. The associationsaid 10 of its imams had been killed in the recent violence. "Wedemand Sayyid Sadr to intervene."

On Thursday, Sadr called on followers to continue demonstratingand said the Mahdi Army would "protect the holy sites in Samarra inspecific and the mosques and shrines in general."

Thousands attended peaceful demonstrations against the Samarrabombing in the Shiite-majority southern city of Najaf and the diversenorthern city of Kirkuk. Protesters also gathered in Samarra, wherepolice on Thursday found the bodies of three Iraqi journalists. AtwarBahjat, a correspondent with al-Arabiya television, and two employeesof al-Wasan television were abducted a day earlier while covering theaftermath of the bombing, according to al-Arabiya reporter Ahmed al-Salih, who managed to evade the kidnappers.

Baghdad was largely quiet on the first day of a government-declared mourning period to mark the destruction of the Samarrashrine, with shops shuttered and only light traffic on the streets.Several residents said they were stocking up on food and othersupplies, and few women or children were seen outdoors -- often asign that people are braced for violence.

The capital's main morgue overflowed with more than 80 bodiesstrewn throughout rooms and corridors, after a night in which bandsof roving gunmen were seen in several neighborhoods, some of whoseresidents reported taking up arms to defend their homes and religiouscenters.

Scars of the retaliatory violence were widely evident. In Idreesi,east of downtown, a blackened Sunni mosque, its windows shattered,was closed off behind a locked iron gate. Campaign posters for aSunni politician, Adnan al-Dulaimi, had been torn from the outerwall. Men had shot at the building with rifles Wednesday afternoon,residents said, before returning with drums of gasoline and settingthem ablaze.

"I think the worst has passed," said a Western diplomat inBaghdad, noting that there were fewer reports of violence duringdaylight hours Thursday. "But I do not say that we will never haveproblems like this again."

A U.S. military spokesman stressed that Iraqi security forces wereleading efforts to suppress the violence. "We're not seeing civil warignited in Iraq," said Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch. "We're seeing acompetent, capable Iraqi government using their security forces tocalm the storm."

Iraqi security officials told news services that as many as 10arrests had been made related to the Samarra bombing. Nationalsecurity adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie suggested in televised interviewsthat the attack bore the hallmark of the insurgent group al-Qaeda inIraq.

The mujaheddin shura, a council of insurgent groups including al-Qaeda in Iraq, issued a statement blaming the attack on the Iraqigovernment in "coordination" with Iran. The council said it waspreparing a "shocking" response to the "conspiracy."

Correspondents Ellen Knickmeyer and Nelson Hernandez and specialcorrespondents Omar Fekeiki and K.I. Ibrahim in Baghdad, HassanShammari in Baqubah and Saad Sarhan in Najaf contributed to thisreport.