"Death for Israel. Death for Baathis," chanted angry Iraqi marchers

AN-NAJAF, Iraq, August 30 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Amidst worldwide condemnation of the crime, thousands of Iraqis took to the streets of several Iraqi towns Saturday, August 30, protesting the assassination of leading Shiite scholar Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer al-Hakim, a day earlier.

Thousands of people gathered in the holy city of An-Najaf, 180 kilometers south of Baghdad, at the site of the blast outside Imam Ali mosque compound, where a vehicle exploded after Friday prayers killing Hakim and at least 81 others.

Ammar Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, the son of Hakim's brother and Iraqi Governing Council member Abdel Aziz, addressed the demonstrators, grieving over the slain scholar, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"These crowds have gathered today to carry a message to the whole world, we will keep on working, struggling and sacrificing until we raise the flag of Islam, on the lands of the Mesopotamia," he said.

Ammar also lashed out at the U.S.-run occupation authority, telling them they were not welcome in Iraq.

"We have told the occupation forces that Iraq is for Iraqis and not for them," Hakim's nephew said, and urged the Americans to hand over security to the Iraqi people.

"We have told them that security in this country cannot be accomplished unless we depend on the faithful public forces because they know who are the enemies and who are the friends," Ammar told the crowd.

The sea of people shouted back: "Revenge, revenge, oh Ammar!

"No, no to America, death for America. Death for Baathis.

"We swear on Hussein to take the revenge of Hakim!" they shouted, invoking the name of the grandson of Prophet Muhammad.

"God is great. Oh Hussein. Our leader Hakim is gone," they cried near the charred cars, heaps of brick and shattered glass from the explosion.

In the southern port of Basra, more than 5,000 people marched from the local office of Hakim's political party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), to el-Ebla mosque in the heart of Iraq's second largest city.

"There is no God but Allah. Death for Israel. Death for Baathis," the marchers chanted, also blaming the Americans for their leader's death.

"The responsibility of Hakim's death lies with the British and American forces because they neglected security," the marchers shouted.

Salah al-Batat, the top SCIRI official in Basra, and Qassem al-Juburi, from the al-Dawa party, headed the march, escorted by police cars.

The marchers carried red flags, representing martyrdom and green flags for the color of Islam.

World Outrage

Governments around the world Friday, August 29, condemned An-Najaf devastating car bombing, while Iran charged the U.S.-led occupation forces were ultimately responsible.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan called on all groups in Iraq to refrain from further acts of violence following the attack, which came a little over a week after another deadly bombing wrecked the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad.

"In the difficult days ahead, the secretary general urges all political and religious groups in Iraq to exercise maximum restraint and to refrain from further acts of violence and revenge."

Annan reaffirmed "his belief that only a credible, inclusive and transparent political process can lead to peace and stability in Iraq."

In a statement released late Friday, U.S. President George W. Bush denounced the car bombing that killed Iraq's leading Shiite politician and said U.S. forces would help hunt those responsible.

"I strongly condemn the bombing today outside the Imam Ali mosque," he said hours after the attack.

"This vicious act of terrorism was aimed at (Hakim), at one of Shi'a Islam's holiest sites, and at the hopes of the people of Iraq for freedom, peace, and reconciliation," Bush said.

He recalled directing U.S. officials in Iraq "to work closely" with Iraqi security officials and Iraq's governing council "to determine who committed this terrible attack and bring them to justice."

Bush also offered his "deepest condolences" to the families of the victims, as well as his hopes for a quick recovery to those hurt, and his sympathies to all Iraqis and the world's Shiite Muslims.

In Moscow, Russia's foreign ministry described the bombing as a "major terrorist act aimed at breaking the process of normalizing the situation in Iraq, which is in a position of chronic instability."

For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin said greater U.N. involvement was needed in Iraq to end the escalating violence there.

"The most urgent thing is to end this escalation and the best way is to involve the United Nations more," he told a news conference in the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, where he was meeting Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer condemned the "odious crime", while French foreign ministry spokesman Herve Ladsous said the government condemned the bombing "in the strongest possible terms."

Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio said the attack "shows once again the necessity for the international community to fight terrorism."

Turkey, which is mulling a U.S. request to send troops to Iraq, also denounced "this act of terrorism," and pledged to continue to "support the Iraqi nation during this historic transition phase".

But in Iran, which declared three days of mourning for the slain scholar, a government statement placed ultimate responsibility for the attack on the "occupation forces".

"The Islamic Republic condemns this blind action and places direct responsibility on the occupation forces that, under international law, are responsible for the maintenance of security in Iraq," said a government statement carried by the student news agency ISNA.

Hakim spent more than 20 years in exile in Iran before making a triumphant return to his homeland in May.

Firebrand Iraqi Shiite imam Moqtada Sadr called for three days of work strikes to protest the killing and also lashed out at the Americans, labeling them the greatest enemy in post-war Iraq.

"The Americans are not defending the people and they are not letting us bring security. That's why they are our first enemy," said Sadr, whose followers have been setting up a private army over the past month and a half.

The leader of Lebanon's Shiite party Hezbollah, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, said the killing will strengthen the Iraqis' determination to "save the occupied country".

"The blood shed by our dear martyr and by all the martyrs who died near the mausoleum of Imam Ali will trigger revolt and anger, and will awaken consciences to stand up against the imminent dangers," he said.

Hezbollah's Al-Manar television interrupted its programs to broadcast verses from the Koran in a sign of mourning for the death of Hakim.

Jordanian Information Minister Nabil Sharif said the bombing aims to curtail efforts to stabilize Iraq.

He recalled the recent attacks on the Jordanian embassy and the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad and said "these criminal acts will not achieve their aim; the international community will not turn its back on Iraq."