Chaos Bomb

Ayetollah Mohamed Ba’kir Al Hakim, leader of Iraqi Shiites and Chairman of Iraq Islam Revolution High Council (IIRHC), was assassinated on Friday, two days before the Nejef is handed to Polish forces. At least 82 people were killed, together with Al Hakim and his guards, and 229 others were injured, when the bomb, placed in the automobile of Al Hakim exploded in front of the Hz. Ali turbah after the Friday Prayer.Muhsin Hakim, nephew of Al Hakim, announced, with his eyes filled with tears, that their leader was killed. Muhsin Hakim said that two automobiles exploded, when Al Hakim and his followers were walking towards their vehicles after the Friday prayer. However a source, close to IIRHC said that Al Hakim died because his own vehicle exploded. American military spokesman said that they could not receive information, because there was no coalition force in the region at the time of the incident. The invasion forces do not come closer to the Hz. Ali Mosque and Turbah, because those places are sacred. Ahmed Celebi, Leader of Iraq National Congress, accused U.S. of failing to ensure the security of the region, and said that the supporters of Saddam, who tried to cause hostility among religious sects in Iraq, organized the attack in Nejef.  Ayetollah Mohamed Ba’kir Al Hakim, religious leader of Shiites and the uncle of Al Hakim, the political leader of Shiites, had been injured in the bombed raid on his office in Nejef on last Sunday. IIRHC sources had accused the rival Shiite group Sadr, however the group had denied the claims. Said Heysem, one of the spokesmen of IIRHC, said that a truck, filled with warriors from the military wing of the council, Bedir Brigade, set out from Bagdad to Nejef.  There will be a three-day-mourning in Iraq because of the incident. After the mourning was announced, a protestation was staged in Baghdad to accuse the American army of failing to ensure security in Nejef. Shiite leader Moktada Al Sadr called on to react to the murder of Al Hakim. Al Sadr said that U.S. did not protect the people and did not let them do that by themselves, therefore the primary enemy of the Iraqi people was the Americans.  One of the highest-ranking leaders of Shiites in Lebanon, Sheikh Mohamed Hussein Fadlallah said that the attack on Al Hakim targeted the unity of Moslems. Iraqis, who gathered in front of the mosque after the blast, yelled against Saddam Hussein, who they viewed as the originator of the attack.  The Nejef public also targeted the Baath party in this protestation. Journalist Cengiz Candar from Tercuman daily said that this assassination was a reflection of the leadership struggle in especially the religious wing of Shiites. Candar said that Moktada Al Sadr, whose father was killed by the Saddam regime, was too young and not in a position to be a religious authority. Therefore, according to Candar, by killing prominent leaders, Al Sadr was trying to remove his rivals. Candar said that this assassination was not a development that would change everything in Iraq, it was just the sign of the internal conflict in the Shiite world.Â