Probe sought into govt response to warning: Attack on Iraqi shrine
BAGHDAD, March 1: Iraqi politicians called for an inquiry on Wednesday into why the government did not act on a warning about a plan to bomb a shrine, an attack that has brought the country to the brink of civil war.
Government and political sources said the minister for national security sent a report to the government two weeks before last Wednesday’s demolition of the Golden Mosque in Samarra saying security had been breached around the shrine.
But the government ignored it, they said.
“He sent a report saying they had received information of attacks being prepared against shrines,” one official in the government said on Tuesday, criticising the inaction of the interim administration.
“This shows you the incompetence,” the senior official said.
Mithal al Alusi, an independent member of parliament, said on Wednesday: “I call for a political-judicial committee to be established immediately to check out these reports.”
A spokesman for the main Sunni political bloc, the Iraqi Accordance Front, said the government’s apparent failure to act raised questions about its role in the incident.
“The report indicates the role of the government was greater than just ignoring the warning,” said Zafeer al Ani.
“I believe the government is involved either directly or indirectly through the use of some security forces.”
Iraqi and US officials have blamed the Samarra bomb on Al Qaeda, saying the group is trying to sow sectarian discord in an attempt to destroy Iraq’s progress towards democracy.
Also on Wednesday, pan-Arab Asharq al Awsat newspaper said it had obtained a copy of the security minister’s report and that it contained a specific warning about the Samarra shrine.
CONTROVERSY: The minister, Abdul Karim al Enazy, said he did warn the government that militants were planning attacks against shrines, but insisted the report referred to Kerbala.
Mr Enazy said Samarra was not mentioned at all, despite assertions to the contrary by other officials. National Security Adviser Mowaffaq al Rubaie denied that any such report even existed.
But a government official said: “Samarra was mentioned by name in the report. Whatever they say now is not true.”
Mr Rubaie said on Tuesday that four guards protecting the shrine were arrested as suspects in the attack along with six others.
Mr Enazy said questions remained over why the bombers, who spent long hours planting explosives overnight, did not kill any of the eight guards, who were found tied up but unharmed. —Reuters
