By Antonio Castaneda
The Associated Press, 01 April 2005.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - An explosion Friday damaged a ninth-century minaret in Samarra that was once a sign of the central city's glory, as thousands of Shiite pilgrims slept on the streets of the holy city of Karbala for fear of traveling at night after a string of attacks on the faithful.
In other violence, a bomb near a Sunni mosque in Kirkuk killed one civilian heading to Friday prayers, said police official Sarhat Qadir.
Three others were also injured.
Gunmen in the eastern city of Balad Ruz, meanwhile, killed police chief Col. Hatim Rashid and another officer at a police station, police Col. Mudhafar al-Jubouri said.
A third officer was injured in the attack, 30 miles northeast of Baghdad.
In Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, witnesses said two men climbed the 170-foot-tall spiral minaret, then returned to the ground before the explosion, which tore a large hole in the structure, police Lt. Qasim Mohammed said.
The minaret is all that remains of a mosque dating back from the Abbasid Islamic dynasty and is featured on Iraq's 250-dinar bill.
It was unclear why the minaret, one of Iraq's most famous landmarks, was targeted.
In the holy city of Karbala, bus stations were packed with faithful heading home after a Shiite religious holiday marking the end of a 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and one of Shiites' most important saints.
Fighters from the Sunni Muslim-led insurgency staged several deadly attacks on Shiite pilgrims in the days leading up to the religious festival.
Security measures remained Friday, with policemen keeping watch from building rooftops and patrolling the streets.
On Thursday, a suicide car bomber blew himself up near an Islamic shrine in Tuz Khormato, 55 miles south of Kirkuk, killing five Iraqis and wounding 16, hospital officials said.
Also Friday, witnesses said a car bomb exploded outside a U.S. base in Ramadi, near a convoy at the base's gate.
The U.S. military and Iraqi police did not immediately have information on the blast.
Citation: Antonio Castaneda. "Shiite Pilgrims Fear Attacks in Iraq," The Associated Press, 01 April 2005.
Original URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4906832,00.html