As more details emerge about the murder of Abdul Majid Al-Khoei in Najaf this week, it remains unclear exactly who was to blame. Hakim has condemned the murder, and I hope that he is genuine. If so, it bodes well for the future. However, it is still uncertain who besides Khoei might have been murdered. I've seen at least three different people mentioned, plus a U.S. Special Forces soldier who may or may not exist. As far as Khoei's murder, the suspects and motives are both unclear. According to a reporter with the New York Times, reporting from Naraf:
Many people interviewed here insist that Mr. Khoei's murder was a spontaneous act, set off by the presence of Mr. Refaei, who had long collaborated with the government of Saddam Hussein. But others suggested that the murder was part of a broader power struggle between clerics vying for control of Najaf after Mr. Hussein's fall from power.That power struggle extends to the United States and Iran, both of which want influence over Iraq's Shiite population. Iranian influence in the city is already strong.
"Our true, real leader is Bakr al-Hakim," Abu Jafaar, a 22-year-old engineer, exclaimed Friday near the Imam Ali Mosque. He was referring to the Tehran-based leader of the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution In Iraq.
He called Mr. Khoei an "infidel," who had stolen money from a seminary in Najaf to set up his charitable foundation in London. "You know when they stabbed him, thousands of dollars were found on his body hidden under his robe," Mr. Jafaar said.
On the other hand, Arab News reports that a local group of radicals is to blame:
Senior Iraqi Shiite leaders said yesterday that a radical Muslim group led by an ambitious young rival orchestrated the killing of cleric Abdul Majid Al-Khoei in Najaf this week. Khoei was hacked to death by a mob at Imam Ali Shrine, the holiest Shiite site, days after he returned from exile in London to help Iraq make the transition to democracy.Iraqi Shiite leaders said Jimaat-e-Sadr-Thani, a splinter group led by Moqtada Sadr, the 22-year-old son of a late spiritual leader in Iraq, carried out Thursday’s attack which left Khoei and another cleric dead. “The attackers started shouting and swearing, and said ‘Long live Moqtada’, ‘Death to Majid Khoei’. They had guns, knives, axes — everything,” a man who said he was an aide to Khoei and was with him during the attack told Reuters.
Also according to the Arab Times, and other sources:
Gunmen in the holy city of Najaf have surrounded the house of Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Iraq's leading Shiite cleric, and ordered him to leave the country, a cleric in Kuwait told AFP on Sunday."Armed groups in Najaf... are threatening Imam Sistani... and demanding he leave Iraq within 48 hours," Mohammed Baqr Musawi al-Muhri said in a statement.
"This group rallied yesterday (Saturday) in front of Imam Sistani's house, shouting 'Live, Live al-Sadr,' and demanding Sistani leave."
Ayatollah Mohammed Mohammed Sadek al-Sadr, an Iraqi Shiite dignitary, was assassinated in 1999 by Saddam Hussein's regime, sparking major riots in Najaf, one of the holiest cities for Shiite Muslims.
The statement said the holy Iranian city of Qom was "very worried" about the fate of Sistani and Mohammed Baqr al-Hakim, who leads the Iran-based Supreme Assembly for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SAIRI).
The same armed group was demanding that Hakim recognise Sadr's 22-year-old son Sayed Moqtada Sadr "or he will be punished," it said.
The statement called for swift intervention from "Muslims, free and honest people and the United Nations ... to save the lives" of Shiite clerics in Najaf.
In other words, they want the Americans to step in and stop the violence, either so they can deflect the blame, or because they are truly upset Khoei was murdered, as they claim:
The Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) condemned the assassination of Abdul Majid al-Khoei and said it held "(U.S.-led) forces responsible for the instability and insecurity dominating Iraq," Iran's news agency IRNA said.SCIRI head Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer al-Hakim urged Iraqis in a statement to "refrain from taking revenge against each other," IRNA said.
"Hakim said terror would give rise to tension and corruption and would disturb the unity and power of the Iraqi people," it said.
Hakim also called on Iraqis to protect public property and to prevent looting and robberies.
Perhaps Hakim is not behind this at all, and could still help bring about a peaceful new democratic government in Iraq. No word yet on whether he will attend the meeting on Tuesday in Nasariya or not. I think he should be there, but it does not look like the U.S. has invited him.
Washington confirmed that a US delegation would meet with Iraqi opposition representatives in the southern Iraqi city Nasariyah to discuss the future of Iraq and an interim authority to govern the country next Tuesday.Representatives “from all across of Iraqi society, including expatriates,” will attend the gathering that will be facilitated by the US Central Command (CENTCOM), said a US spokesperson.
The main Iraqi opposition groups include the Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SAIRI), the US-backed Iraqi National Congress (INC) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the Iraqi National Accord (INA), the Democratic Party of Kurdistan (KDP), and the Islamic Al-Dawa Party.
“There will be one representative from each (Iraqi opposition) political movement only,” said a spokesman for the Iraqi National Congress (INC).
But SAIRI has yet to receive an official invitation, said the group’s Tehran-based press officer Abu Zeid El-Asadi.