| NEWS FROM THREE
SOURCES ON SAME STORY
U.S. raids Baghdad
mosque weapons cache. All Iraqi Mosques contain weapons says, Imam
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military raided a Sunni mosque in western Baghdad and said it
had seized arms and explosives in an operation that sparked an angry Muslim protest.
More than 1,000 worshippers at the Al Tabool Mosque denounced the raid in a loud
demonstration and accused U.S. troops of trampling on the Koran, or Muslim holy book.
"American soldiers entered the mosque with their shoes on and with machine guns in
their hands," the imam, Abdulsatar al-Janabi, told Reuters, adding the raid had
lasted five hours.
(Editorial Comment- Did the imam expect them to take off their shoes and go in empty
handed? Why didn't he answer questions about the weapons? Seems he learned from the
Clintons...ignore the evidence, deny, distort, deflect....accuse the accuser...)
Protesters screamed and cried, chanting: "God is great" and "America is the
enemy of God".
Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, a U.S. military spokesman, said U.S. troops had conducted
the operation after a tip off from Iraqis and netted a wide array of weaponry to be used
against occupying forces facing a relentless insurgency.
"Over recent months, the U.S. 1st Armored Division has received numerous
reports from Iraqis that the al-Tabool mosque was being used for criminal and terrorist
activities,"
"U.S. forces, led by the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps and the Iraqi police therefore
conducted a cordon and search."
He said troops had found several sticks of high explosives, hand grenades, AK-47 rifles, rocket-propelled
grenade launchers and thousands of rounds of ammunition. (But lets complain about the shoes)
"There is clear evidence from what we seized that this mosque was being used for
things other than free religious expression," Kimmitt said. He said 32 people had
been detained, including several believed to be foreigners, and dismissed suggestions that
U.S. forces might have defiled the mosque.
"We are aware of the allegation that coalition forces tore pages
from the Koran... But I can assure you that the greatest possible care was taken to
respect the sanctity of the mosque," he said.
Al-Janabi, the imam, denied the raid had netted much weaponry. "In every
mosque in Iraq we keep weapons, like light guns for self protection," he
said. "They claim it's an arsenal of weapons, but it's just for self
protection."
He said the raid showed U.S. forces were persecuting Sunni Muslims, who were favoured
under ousted President Saddam Hussein, and warned there would be repercussions. "The
army of Sunnis will come back again," he said.
Article By Luke Baker (additional reporting by Wissam al-Qaisi) (Editorial comments by
Warriors)
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AND HERE'S HOW THE SAME STORY IS REPORTED FOR ARABS FROM ISLAM ONLINE www.islamonline.net
Iraqis Protest U.S. Raids On Mosques
The protestors called for holy struggle against the American occupation forces
BAGHDAD, (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Massive demonstrations erupted in Baghdad
in protest at a U.S. military raid on a capital mosque and detention of a number of
prominent Sunni scholars.
Sheikh Mahdi Al-Someidah, a member of the Supreme Authority for Religious Guidance and
Awareness (A newly-founded Sunni Gathering), was detained along with 20 of his followers
and worshippers in a massive sweep that lasted for six hours.
The protestors called for holy struggle against the American occupation forces during
prayer at the Ibn Taimiya mosque in the Yarmuk district of Baghdad.
U.S. armored vehicles sealed off the mosque in southwestern Baghdad in an operation to
detain Someidah, witnesses said.
“The wave of detentions - carried out on false pretexts - reveal concealed
plots to drive a wedge between people of the same religion,” said
Adel-Samaray, a mosque imam in Baghdad.
He was referring to U.S. targeting of Sunnis on claims that they are mainly to blame for
the rising attacks against occupation forces and rewarding Shiites for stopping short of
declaring struggle against occupation.
The raid was denounced by Imams as a violation of religious and human rights of Sunnis
Analysts and observers said that the U.S. raids that single out Sunni areas could flare up
ethnic tensions in the already-turbulent country - a key destabilizing element the
occupation forces may use to justify presence in the oil-rich country after the capture of
former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and finding no weapons of mass destruction.
By Aws Al-Sharqy, IOL Correspondent
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AND HERE'S HOW THE SAME STORY IS REPORTED FOR ARABS FROM JIHAD UNSPUN www.jihadunspun.com
US armoured vehicles sealed off a large mosque in southwestern Baghdad on Thursday in an
operation to arrest a leading Sunni Muslim cleric, witnesses said.
Imam Mahdi Ahmed Saleh al-Sumaydah was detained along with more than a dozen worshippers
and staff of the Ibn Taimiya mosque in the Yarmuk district of the capital, they said.
The US military was unable to immediately confirm the operation, but under normal
practices they do not enter mosques unless under fire or accompanied by Iraqi liaisons.
"American tanks and armoured personnel carriers forced their way through the front
gate of the mosque, while helicopters flew overhead," said one worshipper. He said
troops damaged property after they entered the 35-year-old holy building. "They went
directly into the mosque, violating its sanctity," he added.
Although the mangled front gate of the mosque appeared to have been freshly torn from its
hinges, it was not possible to verify claims of internal damage to the building.
Other worshippers said the raid had taken place because Sumaydah was wrongly suspected of
fuelling insurgency in Iraq linked to tensions between Shia Muslims and minority Sunnis,
from whose ranks former president Saddam Hussein hails.
"The Americans are wrong. All the people connected to this mosque are for the
unification of Sunnis and Shias," one said. |
