Holy cemetary a killing field
2004-05-26 20:00
Najaf - One of the world's oldest and biggest cemeteries in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf has become a killing field in the clashes between US troops and militia loyal to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr.
An entire section of the cemetery's outer wall has been blown away in the nightly shelling by US tanks of militia positions inside.
Tombstones in this sacred graveyard known throughout history as the Valley of Peace have been reduced to heaps of rubble.
In one part of the vast cemetery close to the city centre, shells have punctured big holes in family mausoleums that have been stained with the blood of fighters.
Slippers and the hallmark black headscarves of the Shiite militiamen are strewn on the ground nearby.
At least 13 Iraqis, including four militiamen, were killed and 33 wounded in fierce clashes around the cemetery early Wednesday, medics and militia commanders said.
But there were unconfirmed reports going around Najaf that the militia might have lost more than 40 fighters in the cemetery battle and US commanders spoke of "very large number" of militia dead.
"A slaughter house for living and dead"
The coalition's deputy director of operations, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, declined to put a figure on the death toll at a Baghdad press conference, saying only that it was fewer than 70.
"An area of 500m² in the cemetery has become a true slaughter house for both the living and dead," said Sadr aide Sheikh Qais al-Khazali.
"We have some evidence that the weapons used last night to shell the cemetery area are forbidden internationally."
Khazali refused to provide further details but invited independent experts to come to Najaf to inspect the evidence for themselves.
For Shiites from around the world, it is a great honour to be buried in Najaf, where the revered Imam Ali, cousin of the Prophet Mohammed, is also buried.
His tomb, which is about 100m from one of the cemetery's main entrances, is housed in a splendid golden-domed mausoleum that also includes a mosque and is considered one of the holiest sites for Shiites.
A mortar round exploded inside the mausoleum on Tuesday, wounding 10 people and damaging the upper part of one of the main gold-covered gates leading to the tomb of the revered imam.
The US military has denied playing any part in the damage to the shrine, saying it might have been Sadr's militia itself that did it in order to fan anti-US sentiment among Shiites.