Subscribe
The tragedy came amid an atmosphere of general tension in the capital and throughout the society -- daily warfare across the nation, suicide bombings that had been rife in the capital, the continual tensions between Sunni Arabs and Shiite Arabs, and an attack in the same area in March 2004 during the Ashura commemoration, another Shiite holy period.
Al-Dulaimi -- who spoke at a press briefing later with Interior Minister Bayan Jabr -- stressed that the security had been tight in Baghdad and in southern cities around the so-called Triangle of Death for the Shiite pilgrims heading to the capital.
They pointed to a number of security actions that helped keep order, such as the foiling of car bombings and suicide attackers and the disarming of improvised explosive devices. In one case, an Afghan insurgent headed toward Kadhimiya was killed.
Iraqi Health Minister Abdel Mutlib Ali blamed the tragic incident on the U.S. forces as well as the Iraqi ministers of defense and interior because they failed to take the appropriate security measures to protect the pilgrims.
"Every Iraqi will demand holding the occupation forces and the ministers of defense and interior responsible for the security, seeing they were aware of the ceremony date," said Ali, noting the concerned ministries should have taken "security precautions ... and guarantee safe passageways" for the thousands of Shiite pilgrims.
Ali said the Iraqi Health Ministry took some measures but was not expecting "such big losses." The minister however refused to confirm reports that some died because of poisoned food and drinks offered to them by "suspected terrorists" while on their way to the sacred shrine.
"When people heard that the mosque had been attacked, they panicked and rushed toward the bridge to get out of the area,' Iraqi National Assembly adviser George Sada said earlier in the day by telephone from the Iraqi capital. "There were so many people on the bridge that many fell over its sides and drowned in the Tigris, others were crushed.' Other accounts said people in the crowd reacted to rumors of a suicide bomber among them.And regardless of what anyone thinks here, the incident is a political issue in Iraq and is having political consequences:
... The stampede was triggered by an attack near the Khadimiya shrine about a mile from the bridge, where Imam al-Khadim was buried, according to Sada. Seven people were killed in the mosque attack as rebels fired Katyusha rockets and mortars at the building, Interior Minister Bayan Jabor told the televised news conference.
Thirty-three people were wounded in the assault on the shrine, Interior Ministry spokesman Adnan Abdel Rahman said earlier by telephone. An al-Qaeda-linked group, calling itself the Army of the Victorious Community, claimed the attack in a statement posted on the Internet, Agence France-Presse reported.
"Who fired the mortars? Who spread panic among pilgrims on the bridge?' AFP cited Health Minister Abdul Mutalib Mohammad Ali as saying. Ali called for the resignation of the Interior and Defense Ministers whom he blamed for the incident, AFP reported.
« Older Michael Sheard , who as Mr Bronson in Grange Hill ... | Poverty Rate Increases in 2004... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by drezdn at 7:49 AM on August 31, 2005