"FRIENDLY" FIRE?

Top Shiite cleric killed in Najaf blast (Pamela Hess, 8/29/2003, UPI)

At least 17 people, including a top Shiite cleric, have been killed in an explosion in the holy Shiite city of Najaf.

Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, the spiritual leader of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, was among those killed, Ahmed Chalabi, a member of Iraq's U.S.-backed governing council told the Arabic language network.

An attempt was made on the life of his nephew, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Saeed al-Hakim, in the same city Sunday. A bomb exploded outside the nephew's home and office, killing two bodyguards and his driver. Mohammed Saeed al-Hakim suffered light injuries and was moved to a safe house. He is one of four top leaders of the Hawza, the clerics that direct much of Shiite life around the world.

Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, 64, was based in Iran for much of Saddam Hussein's rule, and was seen as a key figure in Shiite politics in Iraq. He was killed Friday as he was leaving the gold-domed Imam Ali mosque after leading Friday prayers. [...]

After coming back to Iraq, al-Hakim said he would not remake Iraq in Iran's image.

"We don't want an extremist Islam," he said.

"We Muslims have to live together. We have to build security for our new society," al-Hakim said in May. "We want a democratic government,
representing the Iraqi nation, the Iraqi people, the Muslims, Christians and all the minorities."

But his initial opposition to the U.S. occupation of country was well known. He boycotted the first U.S.-backed meeting of Iraqi groups in April.
Later, however, SCIRI softened its position. Al-Hakim's brother, Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim, is a member of Iraq's new Governing Council.

Obviously in a region where the main way to communicate one's displeasure is by blowing oneself up it's impossible to say who did something like this, but it does nothing to allay the belief that this series of truck bombings is the work of Shi'ites settling scores. The three targets have been: the Jordanian embassy after Jordan offered asylum to Saddam's daughters, having previously opposed the first Iraq War; the UN which adminstered the embargo and opposed the war; and now a Shi'ite cleric who advocated co-operation with the Allies and whose brother is on the US-formed governing Council. The great hope in Iraq was that the Shi'ites would be so anxious to finally govern themselves and so happy to be out from under Saddam's thumb that they'd be able to form a relatively stable new state. If they're going to kill each other instead, there may be no reason to hope for a decent Iraq. In fact, if moderate Muslims are to be legitimate targets of other Muslims, the entire region is in even deeper trouble than we all knew it to be. Posted by Orrin Judd at August 29, 2003 2:24 PM