Iraqi Sunnis help the Shiite victims as 1000 die from stampede
Iraq, Local, 9/1/2005

The Iraqi ministry of health expected increase in the number of persons, victims of the stampede incident on "al-Imams bridge" in Baghdad to reach 1000. The director general at the ministry Jasem Lteif confirmed the death of at least 852 persons and more than 300 wounded, noting that the number of killed persons is increasing.

The stampede incident also resulted in partial collapse of the bridge which leads to the tomb of Imam al-Kazem in al-Kazemeyah quarters in Baghdad, and the fall of many of the victims in the river, after rumors were spread that suicide bombers were on the bridge, a matter which created panic among a large crowd of people.

However, despite these rumors the police did not find any explosives, or booby trapped cars or suicide bombers on the bridge and its surrounding. But a source in the Iraqi ministry of defense indicated that al-Muthanna contingent of the ministry arrested 6 members of what he called terrorist members in the al-Hurrieh ( freedom) area which adjoins the bridge's site.

The source said that they also found was a booby trapped car and an amount of explosives and machine guns.

Arab and international reactions condoling the victims of the stampede incident on Imams bridge in Baghdad continued today.

The incident took place while the Shiite were celebrating the death anniversary of Imam Mousa al-Kazem, the 7th among the 12 Shiite Imam on the bridge which links the two areas of al-Azameyah and al-Kazemeyah where of shrine of the Imam is situated.

The USA expressed deep regret over the catastrophe and the spokesman for the US state department commended the efforts of the Iraqi government in dealing with this event and offered condolences to the families of the victims.

The British foreign office secretary Jack Straw, whose country presides over the current rotating presidency of the European Union, described the incident as a catastrophe resulting from terrorism.

In France, the French FM extended a cable of condolences to his Iraqi peer Ibrahim al-Jaafari in which he stressed France's total solidarity with Iraq's people and government in this catastrophe.

Syria has also expressed its condolences and sympathy with Iraq and victims of the Imams bridge. The Jordanian king sent a cable of condolences to the Iraqi President Jalal al-Talibani in which he stressed Jordan's support for the Iraqi people to eliminate its crisis it undergoes as a "result of this incident."

In a televised statement, the Iraqi prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari announced on Wednesday general mourning for three days for the victims of the Imams bridge stampede incident. He called on the Iraqi people with their all social strata to maintain national unity and to be cautious. Al-Jaafaari described was had happened as a attempts to creat problems by what he called the advocates of "untruth." The Iraqi president offered his condolences to the families of the victims which he described as a catastrophe. The speaker of the Iraqi parliament Hajem Hosni called on the Iraqi people in all its sects and religions to give aid to families of the victims.

Ammar al-Hakim, the leading figure in the higher council for the Islamic revolution called for opening an investigation to know the implications of the incident.

The chairman of the Sunni people conference in Iraq Adnan al-Duleimi called for the foundation of a medical and judicial committee to investigate into the incident. He called, in a statement on al-Jazeera TV, for cooperations among Iraqis in order to alienate those aiming to create problems.

Several Iraqi officials, ministers in the Iraqi government accused the defense minister Sadoun al-Dulemi and the minister of the interior Bayan Jaber and their two ministries departments of being short in providing security measures escorting the visits of the Shiite to Imam al-Kazem shrine.

The Iraqi prime minister deplored in a press conference he held with the American ambassador in Baghdad Zalmay Khalilzad the accusations reciprocated on TV screens, but he simultaneously commended the performance of all ministers, noting that if there was a mistake, accountability will be there.

In a joint press conference they held in Baghdad, the Iraqi ministers of defense and the interiors justified for themselves to be responsible for the incident and they announced the formation of a joint investigation committee including officials from the two ministries in order to disclose the implications of the incident.

The Iraqi defense minister ruled out sectarian reasons to be behind the stampede incident, while the minister of the interior stressed that the incident was a mere stampede for the crowds of visitors for the shrine of Imam al-Kazem.

Citizens of the adjoining al-Azameyah quarters, of a Sunni majority, hurried to provide relief for the victims and to donated blood while the people of Falluja are preparing to send aid and blood as donations for the victims of the Bridge incident.

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