(Washington Post) - Maj. Rick Hall, executive officer of the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, offered three scenarios for those behind the attack: former Baath Party operatives working with foreigners, rivals of [religious leader Ayatollah Mohammed Bakir] Hakim within the Shiite community, and his former allies in Iran seeking "some sort of retribution." Many refused to accept the possibility that rivalries among Shiites were to blame. However fierce the contest for power, no Shiite could desecrate a shrine so sacred to the faith. More often, they pointed to loyalists of Hussein or Wahhabis, a Sunni Muslim fundamentalist sect dominant in Saudi Arabia with a history of enmity toward Shiites. In an intersection in nearby Hilla, a banner blamed Wahhabis. Underneath was written, "Revenge, revenge, revenge."
2003-09-01 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive