BAGHDAD, 31 August 2003 — Police said yesterday Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist bombers authored the carnage at the Imam Ali Mosque complex in Najaf, the third in a string of deadly bomb attacks this month and all with a chilling if subtle anti-American message.
A senior Najaf police official said at least four men — all of them with admitted Al-Qaeda links — had been arrested shortly after the bombing at the close of Friday prayers. Hospital officials said 107 people died, including leading Shiite cleric Ayatollah Mohammed Baqer Al-Hakim.
The official said two of the arrested men were Iraqis and the other two were Saudis but the US forces did not confirm this. Yesterday, at least seven more people were arrested in connection with the blast, the official said.
Thousands of angry mourners called for vengeance as they gathered outside the Imam Ali Mosque yesterday.
“Our leader Al-Hakim is gone. We want the blood of the killers of Al-Hakim,” a crowd of 4,000 men beating their chests chanted in unison in Najaf, 175 kilometers (110 miles) southwest of Baghdad.
Tens of thousands of worshipers filled the complex and the surrounding streets for a funeral service for the victims. There was to be a service for Al-Hakim in Baghdad early today with the body then taken to Karbala, near Najaf. It was to be buried in Najaf on Tuesday.
In Najaf, the main road leading to the mosque was open only to pedestrians, and residents were seen carrying coffins on the tops of cars and backs of trucks for the funeral service. The Najaf police official, who led the initial investigation and interrogation of the captives, said the prisoners told of other plots to kill political and religious leaders and to damage vital installations such as electricity generation plants, water supplies and oil pipelines. Several more suspects had been arrested yesterday, he said.
Early yesterday a fresh explosion and fire hit the export pipeline carrying oil from Iraq’s northern Kirkuk fields to Turkey. The huge blaze burned out of control further delaying the resumption of the vital link which is costing Iraqis an estimated $7 million each day it is out of operation. The explosion and fire were the fourth to hit the line since it briefly reopened earlier this month. The Najaf police official, who refused to be named, said the bomb at the Imam Ali Mosque complex was made from the same type of materials used in the Aug. 19 bombing at the UN headquarters.
The Dubai-based Al-Arabiya satellite broadcaster, quoting the Najaf governor, said 700 kilograms (1,550 pounds) of explosives were planted in two cars. The UN bomb was about 450 kilograms (1,000 pounds).
A highly respected Shiite cleric suspended his membership in the US-picked Iraqi interim governing council yesterday, citing a lack of security after Najaf bombing.
Mohammed Bahr Al-Uloom said his return to the council depended on the US-led coalition turning over security matters to Iraqis.
