Show of Sunni-Shiite unity in Iraq – LAT

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Sunni Arab residents welcomed over 1 million Shiite pilgrims to the city of Samarra today to mark the anniversary of a Shiite saint’s death, local officials said, the latest sign of reconciliation among ordinary Iraqis eager to put the country’s civil war behind them, the Los Angeles Times (LAT) reported. Pilgrims gathered from all over Iraq after Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called for worshipers to mark the holy day in Samarra. Security was tight and there were no reports of attacks against them, wrote Hamid Rasheed in a LAT article. The calm was a remarkable feat in a city where Sunni militants three years earlier had bombed the Golden Mosque and ignited the civil war between the sects that left tens of thousands dead. A Sunni mosque even hosted Shiite pilgrims for a prayer service to commemorate the death of Imam Hasan Askari in 874. “This pilgrimage has exceeded all expectations,” said Samarra Mayor Mahmoud Khalaf, who estimated that there were more than 1 million visitors. “It serves the unity of Iraq.” Shiite pilgrims visited the Golden Mosque, destroyed by bombs in late February 2006 by al-Qaeda in Iraq and now in the final stages of reconstruction. The shrine has a mausoleum holding the remains of Askari and his father, Imam Ali Hadi, descendants of the prophet Muhammad. It was in Samarra that Askari’s son, Mohammed Mahdi, disappeared as a child. Observant Shiites believe that the son will return in the world’s darkest hour and usher in an era of justice. About 5,000 Sunnis and Shiites attended a joint prayer today at Samarra’s Grand Mosque and chanted slogans denouncing sectarian violence. “Sunni and Shiite brothers, this homeland won’t be betrayed,” they said in unison. The government deployed police around the city, eager to prevent any attacks and to prove that the country had turned the page on sectarian violence. Despite the major drop in violence, assassinations and suicide bombings still occur on a regular basis. The country’s Sunnis, Shiites and ethnic Kurds have yet to agree on power-sharing, and tensions among them could still derail Iraq’s effort to achieve lasting stability. Last month during another Shiite festival in southern Iraq, a suicide bomber killed at least 30 pilgrims on their way to the holy city of Karbala. Some pilgrims in Samarra described the security forces as overwhelmed by the crowds and marveled that nothing bad happened. Others fretted that the security measures were preventing them from touring Samarra, where they heard residents had set up welcoming tents for them to rest. “I was very delighted by the pilgrimage; I found absolute safety,” said pilgrim Nabeel Haidari, 34, who came from Karbala. However, he complained that the security forces had kept the worshipers inside a zone near the shrine so they could not mingle with residents. “It’s like escaping a prison,” he said. AmR (I) 1