06-13-2007, 02:37 PM
<b>Iraq bombers hit key Samarra mosque </b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The assault on the Askariya Shrine, one of the holiest in Shiite Islam, immediately stirred fears of a new round of intra-Muslim bloodshed, and prompted the 30-member bloc of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to suspend its membership in Iraq's parliament, threatening a deeper political crisis.
To ward off a surge of violence, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki quickly imposed an indefinite curfew on vehicle traffic and large gatherings in Baghdad.
It wasn't clear how the attackers evaded the shrine's guards to mount the stunning operation, detonating the blasts around 9 a.m., and bringing down the two slender golden minarets that flanked the dome's ruins at the century-old mosque. No casualties were reported.
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To ward off a surge of violence, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki quickly imposed an indefinite curfew on vehicle traffic and large gatherings in Baghdad.
It wasn't clear how the attackers evaded the shrine's guards to mount the stunning operation, detonating the blasts around 9 a.m., and bringing down the two slender golden minarets that flanked the dome's ruins at the century-old mosque. No casualties were reported.
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