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Baghdad Sunnis: Mosques closed to protest attacks
[November 23, 2013] BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi Sunni religious leaders said Saturday that they have decided to close down the sect's mosques in Baghdad indefinitely to protest attacks targeting clerics and worshippers, highlighting the country's deepening sectarian rift.
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Sheik Mustafa al-Bayati, member of the Iraqi
Doctrine Council where senior Sunni scholars sit to issue
religious edicts, says the decision was taken on Thursday and
came into effect on Saturday. Many mosques appeared to comply with the closure. At Baghdad's
Sunni northern district of Azamiya, a banner at the closed gate
of the hallowed Abu Hanifa mosque read: "The mosque is closed
until further notice because of the targeting of imams,
preachers and worshippers." Sunnis, who dominated the government of Iraq for most of its
modern history, believe that the majority-Shiite leaders who
came into the ascendancy after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion have
treated them like second-class citizens. Sunni discontent has mounted after a bloody April raid by
security forces on a protest camp in country's north. Political
violence has since spiked, claiming at least 5,500 lives
according to the United Nations figures, although overall death
tolls are still lower than at the height of the conflict in
2004-2008. . The bloodiest attacks, including waves of coordinated car bombs
claimed by al-Qaida's local branch, have targeted mainly
Shiites. But Sunnis have also been killed in apparent reprisals. On Friday, bombs targeted two Sunni mosques in Baghdad, killing
four. And last week, gunmen killed a cleric as he was leaving a
mosque in western Baghdad, police said. The mosque closures were "prompted by the systematic targeting
of and injustice against Sunni clerics, mosques and
worshippers," al-Bayati told The Associated Press. "Today, it is
not forbidden to shed Sunni blood ... For 11 months we have been
saying peacefully that we are facing injustice but the
government closes its ears," he said. He didn't accuse any group of being behind the attacks, but said "the weakness of the security forces is exploited by (Shiite) militias." Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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