Iraq Arrests 26 Terrorists on Eve of Arbayeen

Iraq’s security forces have arrested scores of militants who plotted to launch terrorist attacks on Shiite mourners on Arbayeen, the end of 40 days of mourning following the anniversary of the martyrdom of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH)’s grandson and Shiite Muslims’ third Imam, Hossein ibn-e Ali (AS), media sources said on Sunday.
“The anti-terrorism squad of Iraq announced today that it has arrested 26 people who were plotting to carry out terrorist attacks against Shiite pilgrims in the Northern parts of Babel,” Al-Sumeriya News website reported on Sunday.

The arrested people are under interrogation at a security center in Iraq.

Every year millions of Shiite Muslims travel tens of kilometers from different directions towards the holy city of Karbala on foot as part of the religious rituals exercised on Arbayeen, and this year’s mourning ceremonies have been participated by a growing number of pilgrims from across the world even though Iraq has seen a surge in violence unprecedented in the last few years.

At least 262 people have died in attacks across the country this month, making 2014 the most violent year in Iraq since the country was pushed to the brink of civil war in 2006 to 2007. According to tallies by a number of news agencies, at least 7,500 civilians have died in Iraq this year and the death toll is surging because of the war in Syria.

Yet, violence has been growingly intensified by Wahhabi Takfiri groups affiliated to the al-Qaeda in Iraq as millions of Shia pilgrims gather in the country to commemorate Arbayeen.

Militants affiliated to al-Qaeda in Syria, who have been suffering defeats over the past weeks, are trying to make up for their failure by stirring insecurity and instability through terrorist attacks in Iraq.

Saudi Arabia, the most important supporter of Takfiri groups in Syria and Iraq, has not spared any effort to destabilize the two Shiite nations, specially after a plot by its intelligence chief, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, to create an excuse for the US intervention in Syria through a false-flag chemical attack operation in a Damascus countryside ended in failure and couldn’t stop or slow down the Syrian army’s major advances in the battlefield which has now found even an accelerating momentum.

Meantime, the historic deal between Iran and the six major world powers on November 24 dealt a heavy blow to Saudi Arabia, and led Riyadh to openly criticize the US and the West in general. Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf, a member of the Saudi royal family, mentioned in an article in New York Times that the West’s approach towards Iran and Syria represents a threat to security and stability in the Middle East. The Saudi officials’ criticism of the US reveals the depth of their dissatisfaction with the West’s deal with Iran, and has drawn Saudi Arabia’s Wahhabi regime closer to the Zionist regime of Israel.

Riyadh, however, was not able to achieve its objectives in neighboring Iraq either. Saudi Arabia sought to fuel a sectarian war in Iraq to suppress Shiites in Saudi Arabia, particularly in the Eastern province and al-Qatif. Majority of Iraqi people, either Shiite or Sunni, have realized Saudi Arabia’s ominous role in Iraq’s violence, a Press TV report said. The British paper, The Guardian, was only one of the many world media outlets that have revealed Saudi Arabia’s role in the ongoing unrest in Iraq. According to the report, former US ambassador to Iraq Christopher Hill said in his secret messages to the Department of State in 2009 that “Saudi Arabia constitutes the biggest challenge and the problem is more complex in relation to the Iraqi politicians who are trying to form a stable and independent government.”

Hill added that they had informed the US Advisor National Security Council that Saudi influence in Iraq is important as they finance al-Qaeda attacks in Iraq to weaken the country’s government.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as the ISIS) is the most important terrorist group that causes the most insecurity in this country. This Wahhabi group with its extreme Takfiri tendencies receives financial aid and military support from Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, Iraqi news agency Buratha revealed that Saudi Arabia has not only appointed the new head of al-Qaeda terrorist group in Iraq, but also issued an order for sending weapons to that country.

Saudi intelligence chief and former envoy to the US has appointed Abu Suleiman al-Naser as the new commander of al-Qaeda instead of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri. Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the former commander of al-Qaeda in Iraq and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the head of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq were killed by Iraqi security forces in Iraq in Salahuddin province. Lack of leadership for the terrorist group had concerned its supporters, including Saudi Arabia.

According to the document revealed by the news agency, Prince Bandar who is in charge of Iraq’s case, appointed Abu Suleiman, who has dual Saudi-Iraqi citizenship, as the head of al-Qaeda in Iraq in the Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting on May 2, 2010. Abu Suleiman was considered a trusted member of Saudi Arabia’s National Security Council and Joint Chiefs of Staff with military and intelligence experience.

Equipping al-Qaeda organization in Iraq with new weapons, establishing a committee to supervise the process of sending more arms to this group in secret, communication between all armed groups supported by Saudi Arabia with Abu Suleiman and ceasing military and financial aid to groups which do not accept the leadership of al-Qaeda cell in Iraq were among decisions made in the meeting chaired by Prince Bandar.

Another proof of Saudi Arabia’s role in Iraq’s crisis can be found in the reports aired about violence in Iraq by such Saudi-affiliated news networks as Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya.

Al Arabiya news channel has recently been using a new map for reporting terrorist attacks in Iraq, dividing the country into three parts of Sunni, Shia and Kurd-populated areas.

Another interesting thing about the news channel’s approach is exaggeration in bombing reports in Sunni-populated areas in a fashion that Shia-populated regions are described as immune to bombing attempts.