"Iraq's Sunnis accuse Shiite militia of killings"-- Daily Star, Lebanon

[TexasLawyer]

...as the civil war intensifies...

Iraq's Sunnis accuse Shiite militia of killings
Badr Brigades denies involvement in murder of clerics

Compiled by Daily Star staff
Thursday, May 19, 2005

The leader of the influential Sunnin Committee of Muslim Scholars accused a Shiite militia Wednesday of killing Sunni clerics, an action which may further incite sectarian tensions. The charges by Harith al-Dhari came as Defense Minister Saadoun al-Doulaimi vowed to regain the upper hand over the country's bloody insurgency, even as 11 people were killed in separate attacks, bringing the death toll for the bloody month of May close to 500.

The group has also called on the defense and interior ministers to resign, charging that their services murdered the two clerics.
Speaking to reporters, Dhari said: "The party that is behind the campaign of killings of preachers of mosques and worshippers is the Badr Brigades," he said. "Badr forces are responsible for the escalating tensions." It was the first time Dhari has publicly accused the militant wing of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, which won January's elections in a Shiite coalition.

A senior Badr official, however, denied the accusations. "I consider these comments from Dhari to be irresponsible and only serve to pour fuel on the flames," said Hadi al-Amiri. "It does not benefit the stability of Iraq's security in any way. "We Iraqis, Sunnis and Shiite, should all stand against terrorism and against anyone who wants to draw us into a sectarian battle."

The bodies of two Sunni clerics, Sheikh Hassan al-Nouaimi and Sheikh Talal Nayef, were found Tuesday in Baghdad's northern Shaab neighborhood by men reportedly wearing Iraqi army uniforms. The Committee of Muslim Scholars called for a three-day closure of mosques to protest the killings. Hundreds of angry Sunnis attended Nouaimi's funeral and strongly condemned the Iraqi government.

"The interior minister is the biggest terrorist," read one banner at the funeral. Dhari said Sunnis will not keep silent over the killings. "We are heading toward a catastrophe, only God knows when it will end, this is a warning from us," he said.

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http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=15202

[expatriot]

1. "What we've got here, is a failure to communicate...

...some men you just can't reach.
So you get what we had here last week.
Which is the way he wants, so he gets it.
I don't like it any more than you men."

[Cocoa]

2. what a nightmare

Iraq is about to explode right in front of our eyes.

[okieinpain]

3. oh stop it. don't you know once newsweek is hung out to dry

all of these little problems will stop. geez you guy's act like you don't know god is running things................

[Cocoa]

5. actually two things need to happen to stop the problems

Newsweek has to apologize, and then we have to catch Zarqawi.

Then all will be just as they sold it to us. "Bush Square" here we come.

[PurityOfEssence]

4. It'll explode, but they'll keep it from our eyes

Whenever you have a bunch of well-armed people who believe in the supernatural, the only thing you can hope for is that they agree...