Baghdad: Two senior Sunni Muslim clerics were shot dead in Baghdad in separate attacks in less than 24 hours. Their deaths raised fears of growing sectarian violence in Iraq.
Both men were members of the Committee of Muslim Scholars, which represents 3,000 mosques.
An armed gang kidnapped Sheikh Hazem al-Zaidi and two companions on Sunday outside the Sunni Al-Sajjad mosque, where he delivered evening prayers. His body was dumped yesterday morning outside his mosque in Sadr City, a Shia neighbourhood and stronghold of the radical leader Hojatoleslam Moqtada al-Sadr. Hours later, assassins struck again, firing a hail of bullets at Sheikh Mohammed Jadou near his mosque in the Al-Baya neighbourhood of southwest Baghdad.
Religious leaders last night refused to single out any one party as the culprits. Even as tensions soared, they were fully aware that making hasty accusations was likely to only increase sectarian strife. (AFP)