Shrine attack deals blow to anti-US
unity By Syed Saleem Shahzad
KARACHI - Spring is only a month away, and
preparations for Nauroz (the Persian new year) are
well under way. In Iran this year, however, Nauroz
was due to come with a deadly dimension: the start
of a new phase of a broad-based anti-US resistance
movement stretching from Afghanistan to Jerusalem.
Wednesday's attack on a revered shrine in
Iraq could change all this.
The presence
in Iran of the Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic
Jihad,
as well as members of the Hizb-i-Islami
Afghanistan, is well known, as is the presence of
other controversial figures related to the "war on
terror", such as al-Qaeda members. Security
contacts have told Asia Times Online that several
al-Qaeda members have been moved from detention
centers to safe houses run by Iranian intelligence
near Tehran.
The aim of these people in
Iran is to establish a chain of anti-US resistance
groups that will take the offensive before the
West makes its expected move against Tehran.
Iran has been referred to the UN Security
Council over its nuclear program, which the US and
others say is geared towards developing nuclear
weapons. The International Atomic Energy Agency is
due to present a final report to the Security
Council next month, after which the council will
consider imposing sanctions against Tehran. Many
believe that the US is planning preemptive
military action against Iran.
With
Wednesday's attack on the Golden Mosque in Samarra
in Iraq, home to a revered Shi'ite shrine, the
dynamics have changed overnight.
Armed men
detonated explosives inside the mosque, blowing
off the domed roof of the building. Iraqi leaders
are trying to contain the angry reaction of
Shi'ites, amid rising fears that the country is on
the brink of civil war. At least 20 Sunnis have
been killed already in retaliatory attacks, and
nearly 30 Sunni mosques have been attacked across
the country.
The potentially bloody
polarization in the Shi'ite-Sunni world now
threatens to unravel the links that have been
established between Shi'ite-dominated Iran and
radical Sunni groups from Afghanistan and
elsewhere.
The blast in Samarra Two of the 12 Shi'ite imams - Imam
Ali al-Hadi, who died in AD 868, and his son,
Imam Hasan al-Askari, who died in 874 - are buried
at the mosque. The complex also contains the
shrine of the 12th imam, Mohammed al-Mahdi, who is
said to have gone into hiding through a cellar in
the complex in 878, and is expected to return on
Judgment Day.
Nevertheless, the sanctity
of the tombs is of equal importance to Sunnis.
Like the tombs of the Prophet Mohammed, Imam Ali
and Imam Hussain, no self-respecting Muslim,
whether Shi'ite or Sunni, would ever think of
attacking such a place.
Further, the
custodians of the shrine in Samarra have for many
centuries been the descendants of Imam Naqi,
called Naqvis, and they believe in Sunni Islam, as
does the vast majority of the population of
Samarra.
The present custodian is Syed
Riyadh al-Kilidar, whom this correspondent met
before the US attacked Iraq. Riyadh was arrested
by US troops after Iraq was invaded, but released
after brief detention.
The same is true of
the Mosa Kazim Shrine in Baghdad, where the
custodians have for many centuries been
descendents of Imam Mosa Kazim. They are called
Mosavis, and are Sunni Muslim. The previous
custodian was Sayed Sabah bin Ibrahim al-Mosavi,
whom this correspondent also met before the US
invasion. He was a member of the Iraqi parliament
during Saddam Hussein's era. After the US invasion
he moved to Pakistan. Now the shrine is managed by
Najaf Ashraf (al-Hoza).
Impact of the
attack on the resistance Both the Ansar
al-Sunnah Army and the Mujahideen Shura Council -
an alliance that includes Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's
al-Qaeda-affiliated group - are suspected of
perpetrating the attack. Both groups have
insurgents operating in Samarra, and have claimed
responsibility for attacks against US and Iraqi
forces there in recent weeks. No group has claimed
responsibility for the Samarra attack.
Given that the sensibilities of both
Shi'ites and Sunnis have been violated by the
attack, the foreign factor in the Iraqi resistance
could be curtailed.
At the same time,
escalating sectarian strife will hamper the
national resistance movement in cities such as
Basra in the south and Baghdad, which have strong
Shi'ite populations. People in these areas could
quickly turn against what is perceived as a
largely Sunni-led resistance, with a strong
al-Qaeda link.
Leaders have scrambled to
limit the damage. Shi'ite Grand Ayatollah Ali
al-Sistani immediately called for seven days of
mourning following the attack, and urged Shi'ites
to take to the streets in peaceful demonstrations.
The cleric, who rarely appears in public, could be
seen on Iraqi state television in a meeting with
other leading ayatollahs.
Shi'ite cleric
Muqtada al-Sadr, who was in Lebanon as part of a
regional tour, headed back to Iraq to join his
supporters, who were already out in full force.
Speaking to al-Jazeera television on Wednesday,
Muqtada blamed all parties in the ongoing Iraq
conflict for the attack. "It was not the Sunnis
who attacked the shrine of Imam al-Hadi ... but
rather the occupation; the Takfiris [those who
accuse other Muslims of being infidels],
al-Nawasib [a derogatory reference to those who
declare hostilities against others] ... and the
Ba'athists," he said. "We should not attack Sunni
mosques. I ordered the [Imam] al-Mehdi Army to
protect the Shi'ite and Sunni shrines and to show
a high sense of responsibility, something they
actually did."
The violence comes at a
time that Iraqi leaders are trying to form a new
coalition government that will bring Sunnis,
Shi'ites and Kurds together. This process, like
the resistance, is now also in jeopardy, as calls
for separate, quasi-independent regions are bound
to intensify.
The anti-US resistance
movement had wanted to use Shi'ite Iran as the
final base to link the resistance groups of this
whole region. If the current volatile situation
results in Shi'ites sitting on one side, and
Sunnis and al-Qaeda-linked groups on the other,
this is unlikely to happen.
Instead, Iraq
could become a new battlefield, not only against
US-led forces, but between different factions.
Iran, meanwhile, would be left to deal with the
West on its own.
Syed Saleem
Shahzad, Bureau Chief, Pakistan Asia Times
Online. He can be reached at
saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com
