As Violence Grows, Shiite Closes Town's Mosques

[ProSense]

May 12, 2006

As Violence Grows, Shiite Closes Town's Mosques

By SABRINA TAVERNISE

BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 11 — In a move to try to ease raging sectarian violence, Iraq's most senior Shiite cleric ordered all Shiite mosques closed in a southern town on Thursday after a Sunni Arab cleric and two bodyguards were shot dead there.

Thursday was also the deadliest day for the American military in a month, with the deaths of seven service members and the announcement of an eighth death that had occurred on Tuesday.

The mosque closings, ordered by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, were for Zubayr, about 12 miles south of Basra, and were to remain in effect for Friday Prayer services and Saturday. It was a gesture of condolence to Sunni Arabs after gunmen killed a Sunni cleric, Sheik Khaled al-Sadoun, and two of his guards as they left a mosque in the town just after evening prayers on Wednesday.

Ayatollah Sistani, who commands a broad following among Shiites in Iraq and throughout the region, has repeatedly called for Shiites to refrain from revenge attacks after suicide bombings and other killings.

In Zubayr, Mr. Sistani was trying to command his followers to condemn a killing carried out against Sunnis, something that Sunni leaders are not always quick to do for Shiites.

more...

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/12/world/middleeast/12iraq.htm

Two dozen killed in Iraq as politicians consider security revamp

by Jay Deshmukh
Thu May 11, 2:16 PM ET

BAGHDAD (AFP) - At least 23 people were killed in Iraq as politicians sought to revamp security forces to rein in sectarian killings and the Sunni-backed insurgency.

In a bid to curb the violence, which President Jalal Talabani said Wednesday had killed 1,091 people last month alone, Iraq is considering a move that would merge all of Baghdad security bodies, including a controversial infrastructure protection force, under a single command.

National security advisor Muwaffaq al-Rubaie told AFP the role of the Facility Protection Service (FPS), the 150,000-strong force providing security for infrastructure sites and ministries, will be re-examined.

"We are working on a new security plan that would help control the violence, and the role of FPS needs to be revisited," Rubaie said.

"We need to revisit the issue of FPS, unify them under a single command and review their code of practice," Rubaie said.

more...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060511/ts_afp/iraq_060511180945

[Erika]

1. But W says all is getting better!

The truth is at www.icasualties.org

The only people who will profit from this war is corporate globalists. And W/Cheney loves them.

[AndyTiedye]

2. It's Getting Better if You're In the Business of Selling Bullets

:grr: