Iraqi Sunnis Fear Purge as Province Orders ‘Ba’athists’ Out
Officials Vow to Rid Najaf of 'Ba'athist Ideas'
The Sunni Arab minority in Najaf Province are fearing an effort by provincial officials to purge them, after the provincial government ordered all Ba’athists to leave within 24 hours.
The largely Shi’ite province has been generally quiet, but a massive bombing late last week left 27 people dead and 111 wounded, and the public looking for answers. Officials blamed Ba’athists for the strike, and provincial government vows to rid Najaf of all Ba’athist ideas.
But Iraq’s Sunni Arab minority is already feeling the squeeze from the Shi’ite government equating it with the Ba’athist remnants, as the Maliki government has already sought to ban hundreds of Sunni politicians from the elections, ostensibly for Ba’athist ties.
Tensions are palpably rising in a nation that saw sectarian purges on a nation-wide level over the past several years. If the Shi’ite holy city of Najaf is to see a displacement of Sunnis, it could be the first shot in a resurgent civil war in Iraq.
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Eric Siverson
January 19th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
If the Sunnis's would totaly unite , That means Kurds and baathist Sunnis , they would have about equal political power as the shiits . Trouble is the baathests have in the past oppressed the others . Now its their time to be oppressed . Muslims remember for about 700 yrs , so it will be hard toget togather , But its the only possibility way for a viable democracy .
Robert Fisher
January 19th, 2010 at 8:30 pm
just a little reminder . Mossad has perfected the art of instigation. a bomb here, a grenade there and whooosh, we have another up rising. dont be fooled, they had hundreds of years of practice going all the way back to the ottoman empire and further.