Iraqi Shiite split widens

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1015/p01s01-woiq.html

A shootout between Shiite factions in Karbala Tuesday killed at least one person and injured dozens.

By Dan Murphy | Special to The Christian Science Monitor

SADR CITY, IRAQ – Depending on whom you talk to, Moqtada al-Sadr is either a young hot-head or a talented and pious son of one of Iraq's most revered Shiite clerics. But whomever you ask, he's clearly making waves and throwing the US-led coalition's plans for Iraq off kilter.

The radical cleric is also forcing to the surface splits within Iraq's Shiite community, oppressed under Saddam Hussein although representing about 60 percent of the population. By confronting other clerics and demanding more political power from the coalition he has revealed a patchwork of allegiances and grievances that show the Shiites are far from a monolithic political force.

Late Monday evening in Karbala, the site of Shiite Islam's second holiest shrine, members of Mr. Sadr's Mahdi Army militia engaged in a running gun battle with supporters of Sheikh Ali Hussein Sistani in a struggle for control of the shrines to Abbas and Hussein. The tombs of these 7th-century imams are regular pilgrimage sites and their guardians are accorded respect and power among the Shiites.

According the Baghdad-based Iraqi Governing Council, one person was killed in the fighting and 35 were injured.

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[morebunk]

1. Remember, since Saddam was ousted, Iraq is more stable and more

safe. Just keep telling yourself that.

[bahrbearian]

2. NNNOLHI... Your, why I don't need to watch the New's

Your Like an Internet Filter for me. A good one, not AOL!!! "the Fact please, just the Facts".