Support
Gathers For Sunni Leader
By Dahr Jamail &
Ali Al-Fadhily
21 November, 2006
Inter
Press Service
BAGHDAD, Nov 20 (IPS)
- The arrest warrant issued last week by the Iraqi government for Sunni
leader Dr. Harith al-Dhari has sent shockwaves through the government,
and galvanised much of the Sunni population.
Iraq's minister for the interior
Jawad al-Bolani told reporters that al-Dhari was wanted for inciting
terrorism and violence. At the same time, Vice-President Tariq al-Hashimi
said the warrant was "destructive to the national reconciliation
plan."
Sixty-five-year-old Harith
al-Dhari heads the influential Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS),
the leading Sunni religious leadership of Iraq. Al-Dhari is currently
in Jordan; he left Iraq five months back for fear of personal safety.
The AMS is known to have contacts with the Iraqi resistance, and has
been opposed to the U.S. occupation and the U.S.-backed Iraqi government.
AMS has refused to participate
in any political activity under the occupation, and has insisted on
withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq so that elections and other activities
would be "honest and transparent."
Al-Dhari denounced the warrant
for his arrest as "proof of the failure and confusion of the Iraqi
government," and suggested that Shia ministers were attempting
to divert attention from security scandals that showed links between
the militias and police.
The Shia-dominated government is seen by Sunnis as responsible for widespread
killing of Sunnis through its 'death squads'. Shias are the second largest
denomination among Muslims, who believe that Prophet Muhammad's teachings
were best propagated by his cousin Ali rather than a caliphate as believed
by Sunnis. In Iraq Shias form about 60 percent of the population of
25 million. The minority Sunnis had been dominant under the regime of
Saddam Hussain, a Sunni Muslim.
Al-Dhari called on Iraqis
to be patient and not get dragged into such "conspiracies."
He said he would attend a court if government officials also came before
the same court to be questioned for crimes against the Iraqi people.
But Sunni parties are now threatening to withdraw from the unstable
government.
The move by the Iraqi government
has angered many Shias as well. The Shia movement al-Khalissiya, led
by Sheikh Jawad al-Khalissi in Baghdad, has opposed the arrest warrant.
The group is also opposed to the occupation, together with the AMS and
other leaders who are a part of the Iraqi Foundation Conference.
"It was a silly warrant
that will only increase anger against a corrupt government," al-Khalissi
stated on al-Sharqiya satellite channel. Al-Khalissi went on to praise
Dhari for defending Iraqis regardless of their sect or religion.
Other groups are also supportive
of the Sunni leader. "Al-Dhari is the main Sunni figure, and his
association is considered the main Sunni representative in the region,"
Talal Saied, a member of the Communist Party told IPS in Baghdad. "He
was officially invited by most governments in the region to visit their
countries as a recognised leader, although he did not represent any
government office. He never talked for the Sunni sect alone and always
forbade sectarian killings against all Iraqis."
Harith al-Dhari inherited
some of his reputation from his grandfather Sheikh Dhari who led the
resistance against the British occupation of Iraq in the early 20th
century. Sheikh Dhari killed Lt. Col. Gerald Leachman of the British
army who was sent to Fallujah to quell rising resistance.
Harith al-Dhari's continuous
opposition to the occupation has made him the enemy of the United States
and its Iraqi collaborators, while earning him widespread respect from
most Sunni and many Shia political and religious leaders.
Former Iraqi interim prime
minister Iyad Allawi, who has known ties to the CIA, has also condemned
the warrant against Dhari.
Sheikh Ali Karbalaai, spokesman
for Shia Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, severely criticised the warrant
and called on the government to recognise the dangers of such acts against
the solidarity and security of the Iraqi people.
On the other hand, the Shia
parties in power and their officials who have often been accused of
being loyal to Iran have led a harsh attack on al-Dhari, and accused
him of provoking sectarian problems. These groups have been supported
by President Jalal Talibani and the Kurdish parties.
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