Debka, the Israeli website run by former Time Magazine reporters, is reporting (i.e., speculating) that the bombing of the holy Shiite shrine in Samarra was committed by the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al Zarqawi. (Unfortunately, the story on Debka has no permalink (scroll down to “Sectarian violence left 130 dead across Iraq amid fury over Samarra shrine destruction”), and the site has particularly lengthy and annoying–but seemingly harmless–ads.)
DEBKAfile’s sources: The bombing was carried out by a small squad trained by Abu Musab al Zarqawi especially for the operation. Four-to-six men entered the Askariya mosque Tuesday night and placed explosive charges around the interior of the gold dome so as to bring it crashing down on the sacred tombs below.
Samarra police have made 10 arrests, among them foreigners, as would be typical of al Qaeda.
Iraqi leaders and US officials realize that, unless the furious Shiite-Sunni clashes which erupted Wednesday are quelled, Iraq will quickly descend into sectarian warfare with US forces stranded between the warring camps. . . .
Such a conflict will resonate across the region. Shortly after the disaster in Samarra, Iran’s spiritual leader ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, in contrast to the US president’s effort to calm the flames, accused “US forces and Israeli intelligence” of responsibility.
The Islamic republic is quite willing to exploit the destruction of a Shiite shrine to fuel the fire of sectarian conflict, in the hope of expediting the US forces’ exit from Iraq. The thousands of Iranian agents operating clandestinely in Iraq can be expected to aggravate civil strife in Iraq by agitation and leading attacks on Sunnis.
Iranian leaders are proving once again how willing they are to sacrifice fellow-Shiites to terror for the sake of the strategic interests which they share with al Qaeda.
Because Debka’s sources are unnamed, I would consider their claim to be more in the realm of informed speculation than journalistic fact. In other words, take this with a grain of salt–or perhaps two or three.
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