US Urges Patience on Iraq, Shi'ites Angry Over Bomb

[kainah]

NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - Shi'ite Muslims, some vowing revenge, thronged the holy city of Najaf on Monday for funerals of three men killed in a bombing that wounded a top cleric, as Washington urged patience in restoring normality to Iraq (news - web sites).

snip...

Ayatollah Mohammed Saeed al-Hakim, the cleric hurt in Sunday's attack, is an uncle of the head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, criticized by some Shi'ites for cooperating with the U.S.-led administration in Baghdad.

SCIRI said it was the target of the bomb, which blew a hole in the side of Hakim's office and killed three bodyguards. Some supporters blamed a rival cleric who has condemned the presence of foreign troops in Iraq.

Power struggles in Najaf are key to the future of Iraq, whose Shi'ite majority is eager for a taste of power long denied by Saddam. Many leaders returned from exile after Saddam, a Sunni Muslim, was ousted by U.S.-led forces on April 9.

Any infighting among Shi'ites is an unwelcome extra headache for U.S. forces battling to deliver Bush's vision of a peaceful democracy in Iraq.

BUSH RATINGS SLIP

more....

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=574&ncid=721&e=3&u=/nm/20030825/wl_nm/iraq_dc

[realFedUp]

1. How do they tell all these guys apart?

Baathists, Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds...

[Voltaire99]

2. Patience! Patience!

Patience, please--every Republican donor will get a nice contract. Meanwhile, patience!