Sunnis Close Baghdad Mosques to Challenge Religious Attacks
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Version 0 of 1. BAGHDAD — Iraqi Sunni religious leaders said Saturday that they had decided to close down the sect’s mosques in Baghdad indefinitely to protest attacks against clerics and worshipers, highlighting the country’s deepening sectarian rift. Sheik Mustafa al-Bayati, a member of the Iraqi Doctrine Council where senior Sunni scholars sit to issue religious edicts, said the decision was taken on Thursday and would be put into effect on Saturday. Many mosques appeared to comply with the order to close. In Baghdad’s Sunni northern district of Azamiya, a banner at the closed gate of the Abu Hanifa mosque said, “The mosque is closed until further notice because of the targeting of imams, preachers and worshipers.” Sunnis have closed mosques previously as a protest tactic, in the southern Basra province in September and in the northeastern Diyala province this month. In both cases, mosques reopened later after the local authorities and tribal leaders promised to offer protection. Sunnis, who dominated the government of Iraq for most of its modern history, believe that the majority-Shiite leaders who rose to power after the American-led invasion in 2003 have treated them like second-class citizens. Sunni discontent mounted after a bloody April raid by security forces on a protest camp in the country’s north. Violence has since increased, claiming at least 5,500 lives, according to United Nations figures, although overall death tolls are still lower than at the height of the conflict from 2004 to 2008. The bloodiest attacks, including waves of coordinated car bombs claimed by Al Qaeda’s Iraq branch, have killed mainly Shiites. But Sunnis have also been killed in what appear to be reprisals. On Friday, bombs exploded at two Sunni mosques in Baghdad, killing four people. |