Karbala residents warned to leave holy city; killings flayed

By: Ismail Zabeeh

HOLY CITY OF KARBALA, Iraq: US-led coalition forces on Saturday have urged residents to leave the holy city of Karbala after three civilians were martyred and several others wounded in fighting between Moqtada As-Sadr’s militiamen and American troops here.

US warplanes flew low overhead and coalition soldiers drove through town telling people to leave over loud speakers following the clashes.

A patrol of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps (ICDC) came under attack 50 metres (yards) from the shrines of Imam Hussein and Hazrat Al-Abbas (peace be on them), said witness Hassan Ghanem. Ghanem said he saw a fighter from Sadr's private Mehdi Army beat an ICDC officer.

Meanwhile, a representative of Ayatullah Ali As-Sistani, Sheikh Abdel Mehdi Karabalai, called on local people to find a “peaceful solution” to the violence.

Sadr, who is wanted for alleged murder of Abdul Majid Al-Khoei – son of great Marje of Shiite World Grand Ayatullah Al-Khoei (late), is holed up in the holy city of Najaf.

The normally bustling area around the holy shrines of Al-Imam Al-Hussein (peace be on him) was silent except for intermittent blasts and the occasional rattle of machine gun fire. After one blast, a huge column of black smoke wafted over the golden-domed shrine.

In another development, an Iranian cleric Ayatullah Hossein Nouri Hamedani condemned the massacre of Iraqi people in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala by US occupying forces. He called the attacks on holy sites as painful.

Friday, the exchange of gunfire in the holy city of Najaf damaged the golden dome of the holy shrine of Imam Ali (peace be on him).

END

Imam Ali (p) shrine suffers harm; Ayat Sistani’s life in danger

HOLY CITY OF NAJAF/ KUWAIT CITY: The golden dome of the most sacred sites - the holy Shrine of Imam Ali bin Abi Talib (peace be on him) - was slightly damaged by four gunshots in fighting Friday between US soldiers and Muqtada As-Sadr’s militiamen, and the chief US military spokesman in Iraq said the militiamen were using religious sites “much like human shields.”

FULL STORY..