Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=12/10/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=IRAQ/ SECTARIAN VIOLENCE (L-O)

NUMBER=2-310708

BYLINE=ALISHA RYU

DATELINE=BAGHDAD

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: In the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, angry Sunni Muslims are vowing revenge for Tuesday's attack on a Sunni mosque which killed three worshippers and wounded another. V-O-A Correspondent Alisha Ryu in Baghdad reports the incident has raised the specter of sectarian violence in Iraq as the country moves toward self-rule.

TEXT:

/// SOUND OF HELICOPTER - EST & FADE ///

U-S Blackhawk helicopters kept a close watch on events in the Hurriyah neighborhood in Baghdad early Wednesday, as more than a thousand Sunni Muslim mourners gathered near the damaged mosque for the funeral of the three men killed in the attack.

On Tuesday, a large bomb exploded outside the Ahbab al-Mustafa mosque, tearing apart one car and scorching another in the mosque's courtyard. Seconds later, witnesses say attackers fired a rocket-propelled grenade into the mosque, leaving a gaping hole in the building.

Carrying the remains of the victims in coffins, many of the mourners cried out for revenge.

/// SOUND OF CHANTING - EST & FADE ///

Even though it is not yet clear who carried out the attack, Sunnis here say they are convinced that several Shiite militias and their leaders on the U-S appointed Governing Council are responsible for the violence.

The cleric who leads prayers at the mosque, Sheik Ahmad Dabbash says militiamen close to council members Ahmed Chalabi and Abdel Aziz al-Hakim have recently been seen conducting surveillance around the mosque.

/// DABBASH ACT IN ARABIC - EST & FADE ///

The sheik says he is certain that Shiite militias are behind this attack and a number of other attacks on Sunni mosques in the capital. He says he believes Shiite leaders are ordering the attacks to terrorize the Sunnis as payback for the years the country's majority Shiites suffered at the hands of Saddam Hussein, a Sunni.

Saddam and his Sunni-dominated Baath Party brutally repressed the Shiites during the party's three decade-long rule. Following a failed Shiite uprising in 1991, Saddam had hundreds of thousands of Shiites killed and their bodies dumped into mass graves across Iraq.

Coalition officials say there is no evidence to suggest vengeful Shiites are coordinating attacks against Sunnis in Baghdad or anywhere else in Iraq.

But dozens of Sunni mourners at the funeral Tuesday brandished automatic weapons and spoke openly of assassinating their Shiite enemies.

Speaking outside the mosque, a local Sunni leader, Haith Sulaiman Dhari, desperately appealed for calm.

/// DHARI ACT IN ARABIC - EST & FADE ///

My dearest brothers, Mr. Dhari calls out, do not accuse anyone we have no evidence against. The people who attacked us are criminals. Do not let them shatter the hope of peace that all Iraqis now deserve, he says. (Signed)

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