The FBI said on Sunday that it would join the investigation of the devastating car bombing in Najaf after the provincial governor called for US help to probe the explosion at Iraq's holiest Shiite Muslim shrine. Police said the device that killed 125 people was the equivalent of 750kg of TNT.
More than 300,000 Shiites marched toward Najaf from Baghdad behind a truck carrying a symbolic coffin representing their beloved Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim -- killed in the enormous blast as Friday prayers ended at the Imam Ali shrine. A three-day period of mourning began early Sunday with services at the al-Kadhimiya shrine in Baghdad.
At the halfway point, the second holiest Shiite city of Karbala, three thousand mourners had gathered at the shrine there, praying, beating drums and flagellating themselves with chains as the ayatollah's coffin and the huge procession neared. The funeral was to be held Sunday in Najaf, 175km south of Baghdad.
The faithful trudged behind a flatbed truck carrying the coffin. Authorities said they could only find al-Hakim's hand, watch, wedding band and pen in the wreckage. "Our revenge will be severe on the killers," read one of the many banners carried by mourners.
The US-led Coalition Provisional Authority said Najaf Governor Haider Mehadi asked for the FBI to join Iraqi police in the investigation, and that the American investigators would be traveling to Najaf shortly. The US occupation authority had taken a hands-off approach out of deference to the sacredness of the location for Shiites.
In Washington, a spokesman for the FBI, Special Agent John Iannarelli, said on Sunday the bureau will join the investigation into the car bombing in Najaf.
He confirmed the FBI will provide forensic analysis of the evidence and said it was still being worked out what other assistance the FBI, which has agents assigned to the region, would provide.
FBI agents are leading the investigations into both the Aug. 7 bombing of the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad and attack on the UN headquarters 12 days later.
Iraqi police said they have arrested 19 men -- many of them foreigners and all with admitted links to al-Qaeda -- in connection with the blast. However, many Shiites blame the cleric's death on Saddam loyalists and the US-led coalition, which they say has failed to provide adequate security in the country since the dictator's fall.
In Najaf, Major Rick Hall, spokesman for the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines said the death toll now stood at 125 with 142 wounded, some seriously. He also said the Marine hand-over of the territory this week to an international force led by Poland had been put on hold indefinitely.
"We now want to stay here and assist as much as possible," Hall said.
He said US forces had two men in custody that were handed to them by Iraqi authorities.
"We are questioning them, but we are leaning toward releasing them," Hall said, adding that the involvement of al-Qaeda members in the Friday explosion was "an option we are looking at."
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was