Sunni Scholar Killed in Baghdad

09/03/2004| IslamWeb

Sunni Muslim scholar Shiekh Ali Zahabi was walking to evening prayers in Baghdad when gunmen in a car shot him dead -- the latest in a string of attacks which some Iraqis say are aimed at igniting a sectarian war. "We were walking and a BMW stopped and fired at least five shots at Sheikh Ali's chest. They targeted him. They didn't say a word," said Mohammad Obedi, a Sunni worshipper who was walking with the cleric on Sunday evening when he was killed. The killing, which comes less than a week after bomb attacks on Shi'ites in Baghdad and Kerbala killed at least 181 people, has fuelled concerns that religious extremists are targeting clerics in a bid to destabilise Iraq. At least two dozen senior Sunni and Shi'ite clerics have been killed in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Some Sunnis believe extremists within the Shi'ite community, are bent on revenge after years of persecution under Saddam. Many worry that fear of attacks on clergy and mosques that raise passions could lead to civil war. Revenge attacks so far have been isolated, and many count on tribal and families ties to prevent bloodletting on a wider scale. Obeidi said Zahabi, who was 33 and had three young children, was killed as he walked in the mainly Shi'ite Hay al-Shurta neighborhood. The gunmen sped away as Obeidi frantically tried to stop traffic and get locals to help. **Cleric Calls for Restraint*** At the funeral, top Sunni Sheikh Ahmad Abdul Ghafour al-Sameria, imam of the Umm Tuboul mosque, appealed to Iraq's youth to do more to protect their clerics. "The youths of the mosque must learn how to protect their sheikhs. Sheikhs must know when it is safe to go out and know there are devils waiting for them and hidden hands that want to sow discord," said Sameria, wearing a white turban and surrounded by six armed bodyguards. "This is a tragedy that is being repeated every day," he said. "We hope these sectarian tensions are extinguished." **PHOTO CAPTION*** Iraqi mourners pray over the coffin of Sheik Dhamer al-Dhari, a Sunni Muslim scholar during his funeral in Baghdad in this Feb 22, 2004 file photo. The killing of al-Dhari, gunned down Saturday night as he was leaving his mosque, is seen as another sign of growing tensions between different religious and political groups in Iraq. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)