Iraqi PM calls for unity during Ramadan
BAGHDAD,Iraq-Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called Sunday for Iraqi Shiites and Sunnis to use the Islamic holy month of Ramadan to put aside their differences and end sectarian violence, a day after a retaliatory bombing killed dozens of Shiites in the capital.
A disagreement over the day Ramadan begins showed the depth of differences between the country's two major Muslim sects. Sunni Arabs began observing Ramadan on Saturday, while Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, declared the start of Ramadan to be Monday.
The bombing in the Shiite slum of Sadr City killed 38 and wounded 42 as they stocked up on fuel for Ramadan, days after the U.S. military warned that sectarian bloodshed could worsen during the holy month.
In a statement, al-Maliki pleaded for unity.
"We are all invited to make use of these days to strengthen the bonds of brotherhood and avoid anything that could hurt the social fabric of the Iraqi people," al-Mailiki said. "Iraq is living in a very sensitive and historic period."
Meanwhile:
AP Television News footage from the city's morgue showed medics working to identify the severed heads of 10 Iraqi soldiers that were tossed into a crowded market in nearby Beiji by unidentified gunmen Saturday.
Nearby was the covered body of police Col. Ismaiel Chehayyan, killed by gunmen while breaking the Ramadan fast at a friend's house. And the list goes on...
"Holy" Ramadan. I don't get it. You know the Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox don't agree on when Easter begins. But you don't see them killing each other in fits of rage.
Steve at Sweetness and Light says, "get them an almanac".
Labels: Christianity vs Islam, Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki, Ramadan
Socialize this! 
Personalize this! 
Radicalize this!
