Minarets blown up at Iraq Shi'ite shrine

By Mariam Karouny

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Suspected al Qaeda militants on Wednesday blew up the minarets of a revered Shi'ite mosque in the Iraqi city of Samarra, target of a 2006 bomb attack that unleashed a tidal wave of sectarian violence.

Fearing renewed bloodshed, Iraq's government imposed a three-day curfew in Baghdad as Shi'ite and Sunni political and religious leaders called on their followers to remain calm.

But police said gunmen blew up the Sunni Grand Mosque in Iskandariya, south of Baghdad, destroying it. A second was damaged in another blast and attackers set fire to a mosque in Baghdad's Bayaa district. No injuries were reported.

A grim mood descended on the capital as people hurried home before the start of the curfew. The streets were largely empty apart from patrolling Iraqi police and soldiers.

Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and other Iraqi leaders met the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, agreeing on political and military steps aimed at "promoting restraint," U.S. officials said.

U.S. President George W. Bush called Maliki to offer his condolences over the attack, which he described as "barbarous," and to urge Maliki to "turn this moment of tragedy into opportunity" by showing unity against militants.

U.S. military spokesman Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner said Maliki had ordered the deployment of an extra Iraqi brigade to Samarra while investigators tried to establish how the bombers managed to stage an apparent repeat of the February 22, 2006, attack on the al-Askari mosque that collapsed its famed golden dome.

That bombing was a turning point for Iraq, lifting the lid on simmering tensions between Shi'ites and Sunni Arabs. The two sects are now locked in a cycle of violence that has killed tens of thousands and forced nearly 2 million to flee the country.

Iraq's leaders have often voiced fears a repeat of the 2006 attack could trigger all-out sectarian civil war.

The U.S. State Department said Washington was concerned about the potential affect of Wednesday's attack "among various groups within Iraq." In a joint statement, Petraeus and Crocker called on Iraqis to "reject this call to violence."

In a televised address, Maliki also blamed al Qaeda for the attack and called on Iraqis to unite. He said he had ordered the arrest of the policemen who had been guarding the mosque and his office said he had visited the scene.

CRITICAL TIME

Also on Wednesday, the U.S. military said it killed al-Qaeda in Iraq's military leader for the city of Mosul, Kamal Jalil Bakr Uthman, who was known as Sa'id Hamza.

Sa'id Hamza, who planned suicide bombings in Mosul, was slain by troops when he apparently reached for a suicide vest after they entered his house on Tuesday during an operation targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq, U.S. Central Command said in a statement.

The attack on the Samarra mosque comes at a critical time in Iraqi politics. Maliki's government is under growing pressure to move faster in passing key laws U.S. officials hope will draw Sunni Arabs closer into the political process and undermine the insurgency.