Sammurra remembers Askari shrine bombing with deep sorrow
22/02/2012 19:03SAMURRA, Feb. 22 (AKnews) - On this day four years ago, the people of Samurra awoke to find a new kind of conflict in Mesopotamia. Reporter Othman al-Shalash looks back on a day full of loss.
Samurra had grown used to bombs and violence against Iraqi police patrols, recruitment centers and government facilities. But on February 22, 2006, the people found themselves deeply shocked.
One of the four holiest sites for Shias, the Rawda al-Askariya with its distinctive golden dome, had been bombed. The site was revered for housing shrine of Imam Ali al-Hadi and his son Hassan al-Askari.
According to senior officials at the time, unidentified militants broke into the shrine and planted explosives that caused the destruction of the golden dome and damaged neighboring buildings. The Iraqi government later accused al-Qaeda of being responsible for the attack.
Major demonstrations were organized in Samurra, home to a Sunni majority, and thousands of people marched in Shiite towns across the country and the capital of Baghdad condemning the attack. Shops were closed in both Shiite and Sunni areas during the period of mourning.
Thousands of people from Samurra gathered in the square surrounding the shrine shortly after the explosion to protest against the attack. Raising the turban of Imam Ali al-Hadi, his sword and his shield that were kept in one of the basements of the shrine, they chanted "with our blood we sacrifice ourselves for you Imam".
Demonstrators raised Iraqi flags and Islamic banners, and the Sunni mosques across the city broadcasted through loudspeakers: "God is Great", "Death to America" and "America brought terrorism to Iraq".
The people of Samurra remember this day with sadness and pain. 60-year-old Ayman al-Samurrai told AKnews: "My house is only 300 meters away from the shrine and at about 7 a.m. we woke to the sound of a great explosion and the voices of our neighbors.
"We went down to the street and saw people looking at the golden dome of the shrine which was completely destroyed.
"After about an hour the residents gathered and tried to enter the shrine, but the security forces prevented everyone from entering fearing the presence of more explosives."
The loss of revered shrine
The Rawda al-Askariya is just one of the names of the golden dome shrine. Imams Ali al-Hadi, the tenth Imam, was born in Medina al-Munawara and came to Samurra, where he stayed in his home until his death in 868 AD.
Hasan al-Askari, the father of the last and twelfth Imam, Imam Mahdi, died in 874 AD. The Shias believe the Mahdi disappeared in 878 AD. They also believe he will return before the Day of Judgment to bring justice to a world full of injustice.
Hence this shrine has huge importance for Shias, similar to the level of regard for the shrines of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib in Najaf and Imam Hussein bin Ali in Karbala.
The dome of the Samurra shrine, covered with 72,000 golden pieces, was completed in 1905. It is considered one of the largest domes in the Islamic world. The height of each of the two minarets reaches 36 meters.
It is noteworthy that U.S. commandos had fought a fierce battle for the liberation of the Shrine from gunmen during the attack by the United States on Samurra on Oct. 2004.
The deputy Shaalan Abdul-Karim from Iraqiya said that the bombing was a great crime, one that Iraq had not witnessed anything like before.
"No one accepts violating the sanctity of this place that the people of Samurra consider the crown of the city." and the surrounding areas for the shrine by raising demilitarization, so people could can carryout their lives without fear.
A personal loss
Journalist Mahmoud al-Saleh remembers this day as one that took away a flower from the press - fellow journalist Atwar Bahjat.
Mahmoud, a reporter with Agence France Press, was preparing to travel to Tikrit province, in Saladin, north of Baghdad when he heard the explosion. He expected it to be an accident but he soon sensed that something else had happened so headed to the top of the house. He was close to the shrine and saw the clouds of smoke that covered the scene.
Hours later he went to the shrine to interview the people and report their denunciations to the world. While heading to the capital to deliver the audio tapes he received a call from Atwar Bahjat who was on the outskirts of Samurra. She wanted his help to enter the area.
Saleh tried to tell Bahjat it was very difficult and told her to find a safe place instead. When he returned the next day he learned from the policemen that Bahjat was killed.
Bajat's father died when she was just 16 years of age, leaving her to be the sole supporter of her mother and sister in Samurra. She left the area to work as a reporter for al-Arabiya television just three weeks before her death.
While trying to cover the bombing of the shrine, Bajat was abducted and shot along with her cameraman and technician, by unknown unassailants.
For Saleh this was the second tragedy on that dark day.
By Othman al-Shalash
RN/SS/AKnews
