Najaf is one of the holiest cities to Shi’ite muslims. It is the place where the tomb of Prophet Muhammed’s son-in-law, Ali is located. To Shi’ite muslims, Ali was the true successor to Muhammed and he is the founder of the Shi’a sect of Islam. For that reason, the shrine to Ali contained in Najaf’s famous Imam Ali Mosque is considered the most sacred in all of Shi’a Islam. The city of Najaf is heavily protected by various Shi’a militias, and has generally not been the site of much of the fighting currently roiling Iraq.
NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) – A car bomb exploded near a sacred Shi’ite shrine in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf on Thursday, killing at least 15 people, police said.
A Reuters correspondent said he saw 10 bodies and body parts on the ground a few hundred meters (yards) from the Imam Ali shrine, which is sacred to Shi’ites around the world.
The blast came at a highly sensitive time when Iraqi leaders are struggling to form a government four months after parliamentary elections, raising fears that the deepening political vacuum will fuel sectarian violence.
Pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to step down and break a deadlock over the new government.
But he refuses to heed calls by Sunni Arab and Kurdish rivals and even senior members of his own Shi’ite alliance to withdraw his nomination for the next cabinet.
The crisis has exposed deep divisions among Iraq’s ruling Shi’ites, who dominate the government and are backed by militias who have clashed in cities such as Najaf.
Was this a strike by one Shi’ite faction against another one resulting from the ongoing political crisis? Or did Sunni insurgents somehow get past the Najaf security forces in order to spark unrest among the various factions of Iraqi Shi’ites? Who knows, but as always the incident draws further attention to the ongoing sectarian conflicts that are tearing apart the fabric of Iraqi society, conflicts set in motion by the US invasion and occupation of Iraq.
