iain
10th April 2003, 08:41 AM
This article in The Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,934178,00.html)
A revered Shia Muslim cleric was assassinated today in the holy city of Najaf after returning from exile in London to act as a peacebroker.
Abdul Majid al-Khoei, 41, was stabbed to death at the shrine of Imam Ali, one of Shia Islam's holiest sites.
Mr Al-Khoei, the son of a prominent ayatollah who was executed by Saddam Hussein, had been acting as an intermediary between locals and US and British forces.
According to eyewitnesses, the cleric had been verbally assaulted by men loyal to a rival religious leader and responded by firing gunshots into the air. He was then rushed by a crowd who hacked him to death with swords and knives. So Saddam is out of the picture for a day or two and already rival religious factions are killing each other.
A revered Shia Muslim cleric was assassinated today in the holy city of Najaf after returning from exile in London to act as a peacebroker.
Abdul Majid al-Khoei, 41, was stabbed to death at the shrine of Imam Ali, one of Shia Islam's holiest sites.
Mr Al-Khoei, the son of a prominent ayatollah who was executed by Saddam Hussein, had been acting as an intermediary between locals and US and British forces.
According to eyewitnesses, the cleric had been verbally assaulted by men loyal to a rival religious leader and responded by firing gunshots into the air. He was then rushed by a crowd who hacked him to death with swords and knives. So Saddam is out of the picture for a day or two and already rival religious factions are killing each other.