By TAREK AL-ISSAWI, Associated Press Writer NAJAF, Iraq - The people of Najaf buried their dead Saturday a day after a car bomb ripped through a crowd of worshippers leaving Iraq (news - web sites)'s holiest Shiite shrine, killing at least 85 people � including a top cleric.
The bomb, which also wounded more than 140, detonated outside the Imam Ali
mosque as Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim emerged after delivering a sermon
calling for Iraqi unity. The attack was viewed by many as an assassination.
The bombing was certain to complicate American efforts to pacify an
increasingly violent Iraq. A moderate cleric, al-Hakim was seen as a stabilizing
force in Iraq. He repeatedly asked the country's Shiite majority to be patient
with the United States.
L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. occupation's coordinator for Iraq, was out of the
country on vacation and had no plans to return early because of the bombing, his
office said Saturday, adding he had been in contact. The U.S.-led coalition is
responsible for overall security in Iraq.
Bremer left Iraq about a week ago and wasn't expected to return until
sometime next week, but precise dates were not released for security reasons,
said Jared Young, a spokesman at the Coalition Provisional Authority.
Tens of thousands of worshippers were expected to fill the shrine and the
surrounding streets for a funeral service later Saturday. The main road leading
to the shrine was open only to pedestrians, and residents were seen carrying
coffins on the tops of cars and backs of trucks for the funeral service.
No Iraqi police or U.S. soldiers were seen in the city center Saturday
morning.
While many here blamed the attack on the Sunni Muslim followers of Saddam
Hussein (news
- web
sites), there has been inter-Shiite violence recently in Iraq. Najaf is the
headquarters of Iraq's most powerful Shiite rivals, including followers of Grand
Ayatollah Muhammad Ishaq al-Fayyad, Ayatollah Ali Hussein al-Sistani and Moqtada
al-Sadr. Shiites make up about 60 percent of Iraq's population.
The blast gouged a 3 1/2-foot crater in the street in front of the mosque,
tore apart nearby cars and reduced neighboring shops to a tangled mass of metal,
wood and corpses.
"I saw al-Hakim walk out of the shrine after his sermon and moments later,
there was a massive explosion. There were many dead bodies," said Abdul Amir
Jassem, a merchant who was in the mosque.
Dr. Ishan al-Khosai at Najaf Teaching Hospital said there were 80 dead at his
facility. At Najaf Hospital, Dr. Faisal Ouda said there were five dead from the
blast. Doctors reported 142 wounded, many critically, and the toll was expected
to rise. Arab satellite broadcasters Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya both reported 229
injured. Medical facilities throughout Najaf were thronged with people looking
for relatives and loved-ones.
Hours after the bombing, residents screamed in the streets in grief and
anger. Some attacked reporters, while others continued searching through the
debris for more victims.
Men and women pressed their hands and faces against the doors of the mosque,
which was closed after the blast. Mosaic tiles were blown off the gold-domed
building, a sacred Shiite shrine where the Imam Ali, the son-in-law of the
Prophet Muhammad is buried. The building, which is visited by tens of thousands
of pilgrims each year, appeared only slightly damaged.
While the Shiites themselves are battling for control of the sect and its
future, there was no evidence the bombing was the work of a younger Shiite
faction. That group has strongest support in Baghdad's Sadr City slum and has
been trying to wrest control from al-Hakim's followers. The
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