(Independent-UK) Patrick Cockburn - Iraq slid towards deepening sectarian violence Wednesday after the bodies of 50 people, believed to be Shia hostages, were found in the Tigris River. Shia officials claimed that 50 Shia had been taken hostage by Sunnis in Madain, south of Baghdad. The militants allegedly threatened to kill them unless Shias in Madain, where they comprise half of the population, left the town. The insurgency is wholly Sunni Arab. Sunni religious fanatics, called Salafi or Wahhabi in Iraq, see Shia as infidels just as much as the U.S. soldiers. From early last year there was evidence of Shia being killed because of their beliefs.
2005-04-21 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive