Tension to incite sectarianism in al-Madayen

News reports coming from al-Madayen, south Baghdad, said that hundreds of the Iraqi and American forces took their positions around the town in a large scale military operation to retake control of the city.

Hundreds of the Iraqi forces soldiers besieged the city in preparations to break into it with support of the American forces to tighten the security belt, and they have started to move inside with vehicles.

The American forces closed two main bridges leading to the area in preparations to break into the city after news reports stated that gunmen seized undetermined number of Shiite as hostages demanding the Shiite to leave the city.

Security sources said that forces of the Iraqi army broke into al-Madayen city and liberated several Shiite hostages following fierce clashes with the gunmen.

A source in the Iraqi ministry of the interior held the Sunni al-Dalim tribe the responsibility for the eruption of the incident, and accused it of kidnapping 150 Shiite including women and children in the city and or blowing up the Huseneyah ( shrine) of the prophet in al-Madayen.

On the other hand, the Iraqi prime minister whose term of office expired, Eyad Allawi, warned that the kidnapping of Shiite in al-Madayen city is part of a suspicious plan to provoke sectarianism. He urged the Iraqis to be calm.