Manama - More than 6,000 Bahraini Shiites Thursday marched
in the second day of protests against the bombing of Iraq's
Golden Mosque in Samarra, with top Shiite leaders heading the
demonstrations.
The largest of three separate rallies took place in the Shiite
village of Al-Duraz, north of Manama, where thousands took part in
the march that was lead by the chairman of the Olama Islamic Council
(OIC), Bahrain's most influential Shiite group, Ayatollah Sheikh Isa
Qasem.
In an apparent attempt to calm Sunni concerns, Qasem reassured
Sunnis that no retaliation would follow the bombings in Samarra,
which has been blamed by Iraqi and US officials on the terrorist
group al-Qaeda.
'Whether we had swords or even nuclear weapons, we would not use
them against our Muslim brothers,' Qasem told the crowds during the
night-time rally.
Protestors chanted 'Death to America' and 'Death to Israel' during
the march.
A separate rally in Nouaim, on the outskirts of Manama, was
organized by the Islamic Scholars Hoza (school). The protesters, who
included a large number of women, also shouted slogans blaming the US
and Takfeereah groups - the name given to factions which paint
Muslims who differ with them as infidels.
The Hoza group called on the Irraqi government to punish the
groups that carried out the bombings, and said the mosque destruction
was an assault on all Muslims.
While the US and Iraq blamed the bombings on al-Qaeda, Qasem
charged that the US and western countries were conspiring with
Takfeereah groups to bring about sectarian divisions between Muslims.
His remarks reflected an OIC statement issued Wednesday that
charged that 'forces hostile to the nation' were striving to create
sectarian strife.
The OIC has warned that the attacks were designed to have very
serious repercussions in Islamic countries in addition to provoking
problems in Iraq itself by subverting the political process,
prolonging the US-led occupation and sparking sectarian fighting.
Shiites make up more than 60 per cent of the Gulf island's
population and have reacted sharply to regional developments
affecting Shiites particularly in Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon.
Bahrain's Shiite opposition group Al Wefaq Islamic Society, which
has a 17-member bloc in parliament, said that the attacks should
raise vigilance about plots that threaten to undermine the unity and
cohesion of Muslims at religious and national levels.
The bombings of the revered Al-Askari Shiite mosque in Samarra
destroyed two minarets that were left standing after the 2006 bombing
of the shrine's golden dome that sparked a wave of sectarian violence
that is still washing across Iraq, killing thousands and bringing the
country to the brink of civil war.
Two of the 12 revered Shiite imams are buried in the Samarra
shrine - Imam Ali Al Hadi, who died in 868 and his son, the 11th
imam, Hasan Al Askari, who died in 874.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Shia-Sunnie inhouse fightingJun 14th, 2007 - 22:57:15
One has to realize and try to find out who is doing all this destruction. I am 100% sure it is the enemy of Muslims and Islam, and they might be calling themselves anything from Muslims to liberators or any other name.
WE THE SHIA MUST FOLLOW OUR LEADERS OR IMAMS AND SEE HOW WOULD THEY LIKE TO HANDLE THIS PAGANIC CREATED SITUATION.
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