Mosque Rigged To Blow

[Annie]

Two more soldiers died since the fighting resumed. If that was my son, I would be furious that the 'pause' gave time for reinforcements to be brought in, AGAIN! This has to stop!

CNN

Monday, August 16, 2004 Posted: 0523 GMT (1323 HKT)

The Imam Ali Mosque serves as camp for supporters of al-Sadr.​

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Twenty-five heavily armed foreigners holed up inside the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf have rigged it with explosives and are threatening to blow up the building if attacked, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said Sunday in a written statement.

The statement said the interim Iraqi government has ordered national guard forces not to target the mosque, and not to approach it.

The mosque, in the center of Najaf, is a holy site to Shiite Muslims. They believe it houses the tomb of the Prophet Muhammed's cousin and son-in-law.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi National Conference, intended to help shape democracy, was interrupted Sunday by protesters who demanded an end to violence in Najaf.

Minutes after the disruption, a series of mortar rounds landed less than a mile from the conference site in Baghdad's Green Zone. Two people were killed and 17 others wounded, according to Iraq's Interior Ministry.

Najaf violence
In recent days, supporters of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose militia has engaged U.S. and Iraqi forces across the country, have come to the city to protect the mosque.

Iraqi authorities have said people inside the mosque compound have fired mortars and laid land mines in the sacred compound. An al-Sadr spokesman denied those claims.

 

[DKSuddeth]

We might as well make a coin toss to see if the Iraqi's would blame us or al-sadrs militia if they blew it up.

 

[Annie]

We might as well make a coin toss to see if the Iraqi's would blame us or al-sadrs militia if they blew it up.

I think that is why they are getting out the story. Yahoo has one now that says the council is calling on Sadr to quit the mosque. We'll see...