Mosul’s Sunni clergy vow to aid authorities in fight against insurgents

 

Azzaman, 2005-02-15

 

Senior clerics in the restive city of Mosul have pledged to oust elements seeking violence from their mosques.

 

They also denounced killing of innocent Iraqis whether Muslims and non-Muslims and all attacks targetting local security forces.

 

The clerics made the pledge during a meeting with Mosul’s governor Duraid Kashmoula who told them that there will be no let-up in the fight to clean Mosul of what he described as “the stray and corrupt gang.”

 

The clerics distanced themselves from violent factions and insurgent groups that have terrorised Mosul’s nearly 1.7 million inhabitants.

 

Mosul is Iraq’s third largest city after Baghdad and Basra and the insurgents are striving to turn it into a major stronghold following the collapse of their major base in Falluja.

 

“We call on all the citizens of Mosul to remain steadfast in the face of terrorist and criminal elements and cooperate with the authorities and security services to put an end to violence,” the clerics said in a statement following the meeting.

 

Mosul is mainly inhabited by Muslim Sunnis but the city and its suburbs are also home to large communities of Christians, Yazidis and Shebeks.

 

The clerics play an important role in the city. To them is attributed the peace and quiet which the city enjoyed before falling to insurgents last november.

 

Kashmoula, the governor, urged the clerics not to turn their “mosques and places of worship into a fertile ground for those violating the rights of citizens and threaten innocent people under the pretext of Jihad.”

 

He said under no circumstances he would let Mosul descend into lawlessness and violence “as is the case in other Iraqi cities.”

 

The security situation has slightly improved in the city in the past two weeks, with security forces mounting patrols in districts which until recenlty were viewed as no-go areas.