US says Iraq bombs do not mean security failing

12.30pm

UPDATE - BAGHDAD - US and allied military officials said Tuesday's bloody attacks on Shi'ites in Iraq did not mean security was inadequate, but showed it was impossible to beat determined guerrillas every time.

The top Shi'ite cleric in Iraq, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who has huge influence over the Shi'ite community, blamed the occupiers for not doing a good enough job of protecting borders or training and equipping Iraq's own security forces.

A Shi'ite member of Iraq's US-appointed Governing Council who has fought US pressure to disband his party's armed wing said the attacks proved that groups like his militia should be handed responsibility for security.

"Those responsible for security now are the occupation forces," Abdel Aziz al-Hakim of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) told reporters in Baghdad.

"There is no getting around relying on forces on the ground that have had a role in facing the regime," he said, referring to SCIRI's Badr Corps, a fighting force of several thousand nurtured in Iran before the ouster of Saddam Hussein.

Neither the US military in charge of Baghdad nor the multinational force in Kerbala had deployed troops close to the areas where thousands of Shi'ites gathered to mark the holy period of Ashura on Tuesday, before bombs and mortars tore through the crowds and killed at least 143.

Instead the foreign forces left security at the sites in the hands of Iraqis.

Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, deputy director of operations for the US army in Iraq, said it had been right to stay away from mosques to respect local sensitivities. He said there was good coordination with Iraqi security forces.

"We certainly don't believe that this indicates that the coalition is demonstrating weakness," Kimmitt said. "This was a clear and tragically well organised act of terrorism.

"Over the past couple of years we've seen that these acts of terrorism can be carried out all over the world, in cities and countries where security is maximum in some cases."

The Polish spokesman for the multinational force that covers Kerbala also defended the decision to keep clear of the Ashura ceremonies.

"I don't think it's appropriate to be in a holy city on a religious holiday with weapons and arms," Lieutenant Colonel Robert Strzelecki said.

"Before the Ashura festival started we had talks with various high-level authorities and religious leaders and we found out they really wanted to be very self-sufficient. Iraqi police and the Iraqi Civil Defence Corps were responsible."

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Iraqi police said three suicide bombers had blown themselves up in Baghdad, and they had detained a fourth before he detonated himself. Another suicide bomber struck in Kerbala, where attackers also used mortars and concealed bombs.

In the chaos that followed the explosions, many civilians shouted abuse at the American occupiers, some accusing them of not doing enough to protect the shrines.

"The Americans are to blame. They are not coming here to provide security. Where is the security? They are only afraid for their lives," said Ayed Sweira, one of the worshippers caught up in the bombings in Baghdad.

Kimmitt stressed the occupying forces did stop a lot of attacks, and said poor border security was not to blame.

"We have a high level of security throughout the country all the time, we prevent a significant amount of attacks repeatedly," he said. "But as we have said, we cannot prevent 100 per cent of terrorist attacks 100 per cent of the time. Terrorism cannot be stopped at the border, plain and simple."

- REUTERS



Herald Feature: Iraq