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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The imam of Abu Hanifa Mosque, Mustafa al-Bayati, said on Sunday “hateful” sectarian calls raised recently for the demolition of the mosque’s shrine in Baghdad will not find a place in Iraq.
The neighborhood of Adhamiya in east-central Baghdad witnessed on Saturday intense security deployment in the vicinity of the shrine of Imam Abu Hanifa al-Numan, due to calls on social media from unknown extremist parties to demolish the shrine, which is sacred to Sunni Muslims.
Iran-backed militias and affiliated pages and channels on social media, including Telegram, have called for the destruction of the shrine. Similar threats were issued less than one week ago to demolish a statue of the founder of Baghdad, the Abbasid Caliph Abu Jaafar al-Mansur.
“The stinking calls that smell of sectarianism were met by a popular and governmental consensus, rejecting them, and the government’s directives were responsible,” Mustafa al-Bayati told Rudaw English on Sunday.
Bayati confirmed there was a unified prayer gathering of sheikhs and dignitaries from the district of Kadhimiya, a place regarded as sacred by Shiites, and from the public in Adhamiya in Abu Hanifa Mosque yesterday.
"We have no fears of inciting sectarian strife because the Iraqi people have become wise," Bayati said.
Local media and Iraqi activists published pictures and video clips showing a number of security men sitting in front of the outer wall of the shrine and others roaming the streets near it.
The Baghdad Operations Commander, National Security Adviser and Deputy Commander of Joint Operations, made an inspection tour to Adhamiya on Sunday to see the security situation there, the official spokesman for the joint operations Yehia Rasool tweeted.
The neighborhood of Adhamiya in east-central Baghdad witnessed on Saturday intense security deployment in the vicinity of the shrine of Imam Abu Hanifa al-Numan, due to calls on social media from unknown extremist parties to demolish the shrine, which is sacred to Sunni Muslims.
Iran-backed militias and affiliated pages and channels on social media, including Telegram, have called for the destruction of the shrine. Similar threats were issued less than one week ago to demolish a statue of the founder of Baghdad, the Abbasid Caliph Abu Jaafar al-Mansur.
“The stinking calls that smell of sectarianism were met by a popular and governmental consensus, rejecting them, and the government’s directives were responsible,” Mustafa al-Bayati told Rudaw English on Sunday.
Bayati confirmed there was a unified prayer gathering of sheikhs and dignitaries from the district of Kadhimiya, a place regarded as sacred by Shiites, and from the public in Adhamiya in Abu Hanifa Mosque yesterday.
"We have no fears of inciting sectarian strife because the Iraqi people have become wise," Bayati said.
Local media and Iraqi activists published pictures and video clips showing a number of security men sitting in front of the outer wall of the shrine and others roaming the streets near it.
The Baghdad Operations Commander, National Security Adviser and Deputy Commander of Joint Operations, made an inspection tour to Adhamiya on Sunday to see the security situation there, the official spokesman for the joint operations Yehia Rasool tweeted.
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