'Saddam Plots Religious Damage'

3:34pm UK, Wednesday April 02, 2003

Saddam Hussein plans to destroy religious sites in Iraq and blame the damage on Coalition forces, Tony Blair has told the House of Commons.

PM: 'Saddam plots to damage religious shrines'

Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions, Mr Blair said he had intelligence information about Saddam's plan.

Mr Blair said: "The fact that he is willing to do this underlines once again the true nature of his regime."

And he said the Coalition is doing "everything we can to protect those holy sites and shrines."

Revered shrines

Earlier, a US military official accused Iraqi fighters of firing on US troops from within the revered Ali Mosque in Najaf but said the Americans did not return fire.

But at the same time, Iraq accused the Americans of bombing sacred shrines.

Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf said Iraqi forces fought off a US attack on the Shi'ite Muslim holy city of Najaf on Wednesday.

The Iraqi cities of Najaf and Kerbala are home to shrines revered by the world's Shi'ite Muslims.

Pilgrimages

Both are magnets for pilgrims from Iraq's Shi'ite majority and their co-religionists in Iran and beyond.

American forces had also encircled Kerbala, which lies about 55 miles south of Baghdad and which is home to the tombs of the Prophet's martyred grandson Hussein and his companion Abbas.

The shrine of Imam Ali bin Abi Talib, cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammad, lies at the heart of the ancient city of Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad.

Apart from its shrine and vast Muslim cemetery, Najaf is the traditional centre of Shi'ite learning and each year tens of thousands of Iranians make pilgrimages to Kerbala and Najaf.

Iran has already expressed its concern about possible damage to the shrines and would probably turn up the heat of its anti-Western rhetoric should that occur, though analysts do not believe it would be drawn into the conflict.