Prominent Sunni Sheikh Wounded in Attack That Killed Five
Sunday: 5 Iraqis Killed, 4 Wounded
A prominent Sunni sheikh was targeted for assassination after he led Eid prayers today in Baghdad. He survived, but others in his convoy did not. Due to the Eid al-Fitr celebrations — which were delayed when the new moon was not sighted as expected — very few attacks have been reported over the holiday weekend. In this one attack, five people were killed and four were wounded.
Sheik Mahdi al-Sumaidaie was wounded during an assassination attempt that left four guards dead and three wounded. One bystander was also killed. The sheikh’s car was stopped by one vehicle shortly after the sheikh had finished leading Eid prayers at a mosque. A second car then crashed into his and blew up. He was then taken in critical condition to hospital for surgery on shrapnel wounds to his head. Some sites have already reported his death.
A prominent Sunni cleric, al-Sumaidaie at one time lead a Salafist group that called for attacks against U.S. troops. He returned last year, from Syria, to work on reconciliation efforts between Sunnis and Shi’ites. It is perhaps these efforts that made him a target.
Read more by Margaret Griffis
- 31 Killed in Iraq, Including 12 Slaughtered in a Baghdad Brothel – May 22nd, 2013
- Sixty Killed, 132 Wounded in Ongoing Iraq Carnage – May 21st, 2013
- Monday Mayhem: 133 Killed, 283 Wounded in Iraq – May 20th, 2013
- Iraqi Police Targeted As Attacks Claim 44 Lives – May 19th, 2013
- Forty Killed Across Iraq; 13 Kidnapped in Anbar Province – May 18th, 2013
Umm Abdullah
August 20th, 2012 at 9:54 am
Eid al-Fitr celebrations were 'delayed when the new moon was not sighted as expected'?
What does that mean? The lunar month is either 29 or 30 days. After 29 days of Ramadan, if the moon is sighted, then Ramadan ends and Eid begins. If it is not sighted, then there is a 30th day of Ramadan, after which the Eid begins. Ramadan is either 29 or 30 days, and we never know which it's going to be until the night after the 29th day; it's not as if it was supposed to be one day but got delayed.
(There are also those who refer to astronomical calculations; if anything, they usually complain that the beginning of the month was announced after 29 days when it should have been 30. In any case, it's not a matter of delaying an expected Eid.)