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Shi'ites call for revenge
31/08/2003 14:34 - (SA)
Baghdad - The crowd bayed for revenge as men brandished black pistols and Kalashnikov rifles at Sunday's funeral procession for assassinated Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer al-Hakim, the leading political figure among Iraq's 15 million Shi'ites.
Quiet for months, Shiites boiled over in anger, yelling "Revenge, revenge" and vowing to take matters into their own hands, no longer prepared to wait for the Americans to restore order in the country, shattered by months of crime and guerrilla war.
As tens of thousands flooded the streets of Baghdad's Kadhimiyah district, Hakim's private militia, the Badr Brigades, reasserted their presence at the funeral for their slain leader who retired the group upon his return to Iraq in May after 23 years of exile.
"The Americans cannot give us security. It is the Iraqis who must do this and the Badr Brigades are Iraqi. This is their right," said Brigade leader Sayed Ali, who tucked a small nine-millimetre handgun in his pants as five of his men wielded Kalashnikov assault rifles and guarded veiled women mourners.
The vitriol shattered the delicate truce Hakim had imposed on his thousands of followers, in tandem with Iraq's senior cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, counselling full co-operation with the US-led coalition as it sought to bring democracy to Iraq.
Car bombing
But with the car bombing of the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf, killing Hakim and at least 82 others, that working arrangement between the Americans and many of the Shi'ites appeared to lie in the rubble, along with Najaf's dead and wounded.
"All people are the Badr Brigades. Kill all the Baathists," chanted a few hundred mourners, banging their chests in rhythm as thousands waved black flags of mourning and green flags symbolic of Islam.
Jummaa Habib, 48, said he was willing to take arms now to defend the Shi'ites against all threats from outside its community.
He will not wait for the Americans or their remodelled Iraqi police force to catch those plotting attacks on the Shi'ites, after his community suffered decades of torture and persecution under Saddam Hussein and years as second class citizens under Sunni rule.
"I am willing to die for Islam. I will fight to protect Islam," he said. "If I catch the killer who committed the crime on Hakim, I will torture him and leave him to die."
Armed men from the Kadhimiyah mosque, who identified themselves as backers of Sistani, also agreed the time had come for Shi'ites to take charge of the situation.
"The Iraqi police are not doing their job very well. If there's a problem they fire a few shots and leave," said Adel Abdul Wahab, 21, gripping his Kalashnikov.
"I think we should handle security now. I think the Badr Brigades are better than the police."
Turning point
The feelings are explosive and could mark a turning point, setting Shi'ites against Sunni Muslims although some in the crowd were critical of those stirring up trouble between the communities.
"We must kill the Sunnis," said an old man, wearing a skull cap and a white gown.
His words drew a quick rebuke.
"Shut up, shut up, don't say that. You'll start a civil war in the streets," another man cried, as the crowds shouted again for revenge and some called the Americans criminals.
- AFP
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