Hawzah shocked, demands apology from Jordan king

By: Ismail Zabeeh

HOLY CITY OF NAJAF, Iraq: Al-Hawzah Al-Ilmiyah in the holy city of Najaf has attacked comments of Jordan’s monarch Abdullah II in which he warned against formation of a Shia government in Iraq and said that Shias of Iraq follow Iran, terming it a flat interference in Iraqi internal affairs and demanded apology from the king.

In a statement on Friday 10 December Shawwal 27, the Hawzah said: “Al-Hawzah Al-Ilmiyah in the holy city of Najaf and Iraqis from all walks of life were shocked with remarks made by King Abdullah II, monarch of brotherly Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, for US daily The Washington Post on December 8.”

The statement further said that remarks of King Abdullah show that he is unaware of the unique and high status of Holy Najaf Marjaiyah (Top Religious Authority) for Shias of Iraq and the world over, as he considered that Arab Shia of Iraq are followers of Iran.

It added that distortion of facts, flat interference in Iraqi internal affairs, flaming sectarian biases in the neighboring country and the region against Arab Shia of Iraq, inciting superpowers against them, making region’s countries afraid of them, accusation against them of following Iran, his great desire for peace in Israel, his concern that would prolong in case Shia of Iraq succeed in the upcoming elections, and disgrace of millions of citizens of neighboring country only because of their religion which is not the religion of the king, all that is unacceptable and it does not support brotherhood.

The statement said that neither Shia of Iraq think of Welayah Al-Faqih system nor they intent to establish Islamic Republic similar to Iran. It said that when Ayatullah Sayyed As-Sistani was asked on 28 May 2003 about Welayah Al-Faqih ideology and its application in Iraq, he replied “situation in Iraq is different”.

The Hawzah expressed hope that Jordanian king would apologize to the Shias of Iraq and the region and their Marajay as he remarked about them that is baseless.

In an interview to The Washington Post published Wednesday 8 December, king Abdullah II said creation of an Islamic government in Iraq would dramatically shift the geopolitical balance between Shia and Sunni Muslims in the Middle East.

“It is in Iran's vested interest to have an Islamic republic of Iraq ... and therefore the involvement you're getting by the Iranians is to achieve a government that is very pro-Iran,” King Abdullah II said. He said the Iranian government had encouraged more than one million Iranians to cross into Iraq, many with the objective of voting in the upcoming elections.

The king also said Iran was providing salaries and welfare to unemployed Iraqis to build pro-Iranian public sentiment.

He warned that if a pro-Iranian government were elected in Iraq, a new “crescent” of dominant Shia movements or governments could emerge stretching from Iran to Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, altering the traditional balance of power between the two main Islamic sects, Shias and Sunnis, and posing new challenges to US interests and allies (Israel, Britain and India).

“If Iraq goes Islamic republic, then, yes, we've opened ourselves to a whole set of new problems that will not be limited to the borders of Iraq,” said Abdullah.

Abdullah said the creation of a new Shia crescent would particularly destabilize Gulf countries with Shia populations. “Even Saudi Arabia is not immune from this. It would be a major problem. And then that would propel the possibility of a Shia-Sunni conflict even more, as you're taking it out of the borders of Iraq,” the king said.

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