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Iraq moves to honor Sunni soldiers amid tensions
January 10, 2012
Two Sunni soldiers who died trying to prevent a suicide attack against Shia pilgrims have become symbols of efforts to push unity as Iraq grapples with a political row that has stoked sectarian tensions.
Iraq's cabinet backed on Tuesday plans to provide funds and property to the men's families and for streets to be named in their honor, while provinces in the country's Shia south have made similar moves at a local level.
The push to recognize Lieutenant Nazhan Faleh and Corporal Ali Ahmed Sabah, Sunnis from Kirkuk and Diyala provinces, comes amid a standoff that has pitted the Shia-led government against the main Sunni-backed political bloc.
Their commanding officer said Faleh and Sabah tried to wrestle a suicide attacker away from a group of Shia pilgrims resting on their way to the shrine city of Karbala.
The insurgent was able to blow himself up, killing 47 people, but officials claimed the toll would have been twice as high had it not been for the pair.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki awarded the two posthumous double promotions, his spokesman Ali Mussawi told AFP, and ministers agreed to allot plots of land to their families in their home provinces along with a 30 million Iraqi dinar ($25,000) grant, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said.
Ministers also called for Dhi Qar province, where the attack took place, to name streets in the soldiers' honor.
In the predominantly Shia south, Maysan and Dhi Qar have made their own moves to recognise the pair.
In Maysan, which borders Iraq's Shia neighbor Iran, the provincial council has decided to name two streets after Faleh and Sabah in provincial capital Amara.
"They expressed their love for their country with their lives," said council chief Abdulhussein Abdulridha al-Saidi.
Dhi Qar, which held a large funeral for the two the day after the attack, is studying whether to erect statues in their honor, a local official said.
Thursday's attack was part of nationwide violence against Shia that left 70 dead, the worst death toll in Iraq since August, amid raised sectarian tensions due to the political standoff.
The row was sparked when, a day after US forces completed their withdrawal from Iraq, authorities issued an arrest warrant for Sunni Arab Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi on charges he ran a death squad.
Hashemi, who is currently holed up in the autonomous Kurdish region, has rejected the accusations and says Iraq's judiciary is politicized.
Since the crisis broke out, two major sets of attacks have been carried out -- Thursday's violence, and a wave of shootings and bombings on December 22 that killed 67 people across the country.
The US and UN have called for calm and urged dialogue, but oft-mooted talks featuring all of Iraq's major leaders have yet to take place.
-AFP/NOW Lebanon
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January 10, 2012
Two Sunni soldiers who died trying to prevent a suicide attack against Shia pilgrims have become symbols of efforts to push unity as Iraq grapples with a political row that has stoked sectarian tensions.
Iraq's cabinet backed on Tuesday plans to provide funds and property to the men's families and for streets to be named in their honor, while provinces in the country's Shia south have made similar moves at a local level.
The push to recognize Lieutenant Nazhan Faleh and Corporal Ali Ahmed Sabah, Sunnis from Kirkuk and Diyala provinces, comes amid a standoff that has pitted the Shia-led government against the main Sunni-backed political bloc.
Their commanding officer said Faleh and Sabah tried to wrestle a suicide attacker away from a group of Shia pilgrims resting on their way to the shrine city of Karbala.
The insurgent was able to blow himself up, killing 47 people, but officials claimed the toll would have been twice as high had it not been for the pair.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki awarded the two posthumous double promotions, his spokesman Ali Mussawi told AFP, and ministers agreed to allot plots of land to their families in their home provinces along with a 30 million Iraqi dinar ($25,000) grant, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said.
Ministers also called for Dhi Qar province, where the attack took place, to name streets in the soldiers' honor.
In the predominantly Shia south, Maysan and Dhi Qar have made their own moves to recognise the pair.
In Maysan, which borders Iraq's Shia neighbor Iran, the provincial council has decided to name two streets after Faleh and Sabah in provincial capital Amara.
"They expressed their love for their country with their lives," said council chief Abdulhussein Abdulridha al-Saidi.
Dhi Qar, which held a large funeral for the two the day after the attack, is studying whether to erect statues in their honor, a local official said.
Thursday's attack was part of nationwide violence against Shia that left 70 dead, the worst death toll in Iraq since August, amid raised sectarian tensions due to the political standoff.
The row was sparked when, a day after US forces completed their withdrawal from Iraq, authorities issued an arrest warrant for Sunni Arab Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi on charges he ran a death squad.
Hashemi, who is currently holed up in the autonomous Kurdish region, has rejected the accusations and says Iraq's judiciary is politicized.
Since the crisis broke out, two major sets of attacks have been carried out -- Thursday's violence, and a wave of shootings and bombings on December 22 that killed 67 people across the country.
The US and UN have called for calm and urged dialogue, but oft-mooted talks featuring all of Iraq's major leaders have yet to take place.
-AFP/NOW Lebanon
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