The US-led occupying Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) has allocated $100,000 in immediate emergency funds to assist the victims of the March 2 terror attacks in the Iraqi city of Karbala.
Nearly simultaneous attacks in the capital Baghdad and in the holy city of Karbala apparently targeted Iraqi Shi'a worshipers observing the holy day of Ashura. Ashura, which commemorates the martyring of Imam Hussein, is one of the most important events in the Shi'a religious year. Multiple suicide bombings and possibly mortars were used in the attacks in the two cities where more than 140 people were killed and about 400 were wounded.
This year is the first time in more than three decades that Iraq's Shi'a have been able to freely observe this holy day. While no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, officials from the Iraqi Governing Council and the CPA suspect the involvement of Abu Musab Zarqawi. A recently intercepted letter from Zarqawi laid out a strategy for fomenting sectarian divisions within Iraq in an effort to undermine any movement towards a pluralistic democracy. — (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
