At least 80 killed in car bomb at mosque in Iraq

IRAQ: A massive car bomb killed at least 80 people yesterday, including a leading Shia cleric, Ayatollah Muhammad Baqr al-Hakim, and wounded 100 outside the holiest Shia shrine in the central Iraqi city of Najaf.

It was set to go off as the ayatollah, the head of the Tehran-backed Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), was leaving the mosque, erected over the tomb of Ali, the martyred son-in-law of the prophet Muhammad.

Iraq's US governor, Mr Paul Bremer, said the perpetrators had shown the "evil face of terrorism" and vowed Washington would bring them to justice.

"The bombing shows again that the enemies of the new Iraq will stop at nothing," said Mr Bremer. "Again, they have killed innocent Iraqis. Again, they have violated one of Islam's most sacred places. Again, by their heinous action, they have shown the evil face of terrorism."

The explosion went off next to the ayatollah's black Land Cruiser as he was walking through the east gate of the mosque, his usual point of exit. He had just delivered the sermon at the communal Friday prayer in which he denounced the ousted president Saddam Hussein and his supporters for mounting attacks against the US administration and other targets, including the UN headquarters in Baghdad and the country's infrastructure.

Last Sunday, an assassination attempt was made on his uncle, Grand Ayatollah Muhammed Said al-Hakim, who narrowly escaped death when a gas bomb exploded against a wall outside his office, killing three people.

An angry crowd outside the mosque shouted slogans against Saddam and his followers as rescuers searched the heaps of broken brick and twisted metal for survivors. A witness said the car that exploded was of the type used as a taxi in Iraq and that there was a burnt body inside, suggesting a suicide bomber.

Several shops and a restaurant were gutted, and victims were buried beneath the rubble. Iraqi police supervised the rescue while a few US soldiers hung back.

Fearing riots, US forces have attempted to keep a low profile in the highly volatile Shia holy cities of Najaf and Kerbala.

The ayatollah "met a martyr's fate along with his bodyguards", said Mr Mohsen al-Hakim, the son and political adviser of the ayatollah's brother, Mr Abdel Aziz al-Hakim.

Mr Ahmad Chalabi, the head of the Iraqi National Congress, blamed the bombing on Saddam but castigated US forces for not making the area secure.

However, informed observers believe that yesterday's blast, Sunday's attempt on the grand ayatollah, and the murder of a pro-Western Shia cleric, Shaikh Abdul Majid al-Khoei, at the same mosque in April, stem from a bitter rivalry amongst the country's prominent Shia clerics.

The death of the ayatollah is seen as a heavy blow to the US-occupation administration.

In spite of his Iranian support, Ayatollah al-Hakim and his brother agreed to work with Mr Bremer, and participate in the interim Governing Council he appointed last month.

Ayatollah al-Hakim stood with the senior most Shia cleric, Ayatollah Ali Sistani, in condemning the anti-US rhetoric of Sayyed Muqtada Sadr, a young firebrand who has fired anti-occupation sentiments of underprivileged Shias living in Iraq's main cities, Baghdad and Basra.