DAR AL ISLAM - IRAQ: OUR TROOPS SHOULD GET OUT OF THE WAY & LET THE BLOOD LETTING BEGIN

Blast hits Shia mosque in Samarra

An explosion has damaged two minarets belonging to the Golden Mosque in the Iraqi city of Samarra, raising fears of a rise in sectarian violence in the troubled country.

The mosque was targeted last year when a blast hit the golden dome. Shia Muslim groups blamed Sunni Muslim al-Qaida militants for the attack, resulting in reprisals in Baghdad.

US forces in Iraq are now monitoring the situation closely to prevent any outbreak in violence from the Samarra bombing.Saleh al-Haidari, head of the Shia endowment in Iraq, told the Reuters news agency:

"The explosion targeted the two golden minarets. They have been damaged… This is a criminal act which aims at creating sectarian strife."

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Factbox: Samarra's Golden Mosque

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- The Golden Mosque is one of the four major Shi'ite shrines in Iraq. Samarra, north of Baghdad, is a predominantly Sunni city. Other major sites are in the holy Shi'ite cities of Najaf and Kerbala. The fourth is in the Baghdad district of Kadhimiya, also mainly home to Shi'ites.
- Two of the 12 revered Shi'ite imams are buried in the Samarra shrine -- Imam Ali al-Hadi, who died in 868 and his son, the 11th imam, Hasan al-Askari, who died in 874.
- Shi'ites believe the 12th imam, Imam Mehdi, known as the hidden imam, went into hiding from a cellar in the complex in 878. Shi'ites say he will return before the Day of Judgment to return justice to a world full of oppression.
- Iraqi commandos retook the Golden Mosque from insurgents during a U.S.-led offensive in Samarra in October 2004.
- The golden dome of the sanctuary was completed in 1905 and had been covered by 72,000 golden pieces. It measured roughly 20 meters (yards) wide with a circumference of 68 meters, making it one of the biggest domes in the Islamic world.
- Each of the mosque's two golden minarets is 36 meters high, according to the Encyclopedia of the Orient and Atlas Tours.
- No reconstruction of the shrine has taken place, partly because of disagreements between Shi'ite and Sunnis over how the work will be carried out. The Iraqi government blamed al Qaeda for the 2006 attack.



Pertinent Links:

1) Blast hits Shia mosque in Samarra

2) Factbox: Samarra's Golden Mosque