Accusing the U.S.-led coalition forces that ousted Saddam of turning a deaf ear to repeated calls for the protection of Najaf, Bahr al-Uloom called on "the Islamic and Arab world ... to send a (force) to protect our sanctities and people".

Should Arabs and Muslims fail to do so, the Iraqis themselves and the tribes of central and southern regions should "protect our sanctities and religious symbols, standing as one in the face of this criminal terrorism ... practiced by a vicious gang from inside and outside" the country, said the statement issued in Najaf, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Al-Uloom’s furious statement followed Friday's bombing in Najaf a day earlier that claimed the lives of a top Shiite leader and 82 others.

"This indifference (about protecting Shiite holy sites) prompts me to suspend my membership of the Governing Council, which was unable to assume its responsibility of ensuring that coalition forces protect our people, holy sites and religious authorities," Bahr al-Uloom said in a statement obtained by AFP.

The massive car bombing outside Imam Ali's mausoleum in Najaf Friday killed a top Shiite cleric and political leader, Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer al-Hakim. Apart from the 83 killed, another 125 people were wounded.

Bahr al-Uloom, an 80-year-old liberal Shiite scholar who fled Iraq in 1991 and returned after the fall of Saddam Hussein in April, is one of nine members of the 25-strong Governing Council named by the U.S.-led occupation administration in July who is due to eventually hold its rotating presidency.

Bahr al-Uloom said Friday's attack was reminiscent of the policy "targeting our existence and seeking to uproot us" which was pursued by Saddam's regime.

The governor of Najaf told AFP Saturday that Iraqi police had detained two Iraqis from the former regime and two Arab nationals, described as Sunni Muslim radicals, in connection with the bombing.

Al-Uloom’s straightforward accusation to the coalition forces actually echoed others inside Iraq and outside it. The coalition, chiefly Washington, is under fire for doing little so far to realize security for the Iraqi people.

His decision stands in clear contradiction to attempts - by the U.S. and other allies - to put the blame on others.

Ironically, the slain Shiite scholar - during his last sermon Friday - blasted the coalition forces for the same reasons.

“…The fourth point to which we should pay attention is the responsibility of the occupation forces for these attacks. The occupation forces did not carry out their legal and real duties to protect the religious authority and the holy places. This is to be condemned. We condemn this stance by the occupation forces.