Dozens killed in a series of deadly bombings in Iraq
Language:
Arabic 
Dozens killed in a series of deadly bombings in Iraq (Photo: euronews.net)
Since U.S. troops withdrew from Iraq in December 2011, Iraq has faced increasing political difficulties, evidenced by several bombings attributed to sectarian violence between the two major religious groups, the Sunni and the Shiite.
In an attempt to establish unity among different religious and political groups in Iraq after the U.S. withdrawal, Muqtada al-Sadr, the leader of Jaysh al-Mahdi, (“Mahdi Army”), called for a conference. At the conference, the al-Sadr Trend announced a charter, The Charter of National Honor, which includes 14 articles. Among them are the prohibition of killing Iraqi people regardless of their religion, nationality, or sect, and opposition of those who call for segregation and sectarianism. The Charter was signed by hundreds of Iraqi politicians, intellectuals, and clergy members.
Tensions between Shiites and Sunnis escalated one day after U.S. troops withdrew. The Iraqi government, which is dominated by Shiites, issued an arrest warrant for Sunni vice president Tariq al-Hashimi, accusing him of what they called terrorist attacks against Iraqi civilians and the political leadership. The order for arrest was issued after three of al-Hashimi’s bodyguards claimed on Iraqi television that they had carried out bombings and assassinations in Iraq based on orders from al-Hashimi. In response, al-Hashimi said that these accusations were a conspiracy to destroy the opponents of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and warned that this could restart sectarian killings in Iraq. Al-Hashimi added, “Al-Maliki knows who my supporters are and to what group they belong, and he must have thought of the negative consequences of these accusations.” Soon after the arrest warrant for al-Maliki was issued, a series of bombings in different parts of Bagdad killed dozens of people, most of them Shiites.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said in an interview with Free Iraq Television that he had nothing to do with al-Hashimi case. Al-Maliki said, “I was in Washington when the court issued the arrest warrant against Tariq al-Hashimi, I was not in Iraq.” Al-Maliki asked the court and the police to reveal the statements of al-Hashimi’s bodyguards to the public and to bring al-Hashimi to justice.
The clashes between the Maliki group and the Hashimi group, which were followed by a series of violent attacks against civilians, have been the target of much criticism by Islamic and political figures in Iraq. Muqtada al-Sadr issued a statement condemning the violence and the political crisis in Iraq. He said, “The conflict between mighty groups—I mean the politicians—is the reason behind these attacks.” Al-Sadr added, “The only victims in the middle of all of this are the Iraqi people and politicians must assume full responsibility.”
The Salafi Jihadist Amir in Iraq, Mahdi Ahmed al-Sumaide’I, said that all Iraqi forces agree that the violent events that happened in Iraq before the U.S. withdrawal were caused by the occupation, but what is happening now, after the U.S. withdrawal, indicates a dire future. Al-Sumaide’i proclaimed at The Charter of the National Honor conference that was held after the U.S withdrawal, “The crisis that Iraq is witnessing now is the result of a dreadful political situation.” He added that politicians fuel the sectarian conflict, and all Iraqi people should unite against this sectarianism.