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AP - Three gunmen sprayed the congregation at the end of dawn prayers at a Sunni mosque in north-east Iraq, injuring three people, the imam at the mosque said.
"They wanted to harm the unity of Islam," said imam Walid al-Azari at the Quiba mosque. He said the attack took place about 4:30am (1030 AEST Friday) when three gunmen got out of a pickup truck and opened fire with Kalashnikov rifles.
In Najaf, 180km south of Baghdad, more than 10,000 worshippers filled the area around the Imam Ali shrine waiting to hear the Friday sermon of Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim, whose brother was assassinated in a huge car bombing outside the mosque a week ago. The inside of the shrine compound was jammed as well.
Armed security men stood every five metres along the top of the Shi'ite shrine, the holiest in Iraq.
Al-Hakim, a member of the American-picked governing council, has taken over his slain brother's leadership position in the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. He was leader of the armed wing of the organisation, the Badr Brigade, which US forces ordered disarmed shortly after the war ended on April 9.
The group has rearmed in defiance of the US demand and many members, wearing armbands identifying themselves as Badr Brigade and carrying Kalashnikov rifles, were part of the security force.
In Baghdad, the top US commander in Iraq said more international troops are needed to stave off threats ranging from al-Qaeda terrorists to brewing ethnic and religious conflicts.
Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez said he had enough soldiers to accomplish the mission given to him by Washington, but its scope did not include guarding Iraq's porous borders or its thousands of kilometres of highways. Sanchez said last week it was impossible for coalition forces to defend the full length of pipeline that carries Iraq's oil.
He warned that international forces were needed to reinforce existing coalition forces in tackling looming security threats, such as Iranian fighters or possible conflict between Iraq's Sunni and Shi'ite Muslim sects.
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was in ousted leader Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit visiting troops of the 4th Infantry Division. He was to be in Mosul, in the far north, later in the day for a visit with the 101st Airborne Division.
He arrived in Baghdad and said the US military is "looking at ways of accelerating" the process of bringing former members of Saddam's military - and possibly his security services - into the Iraqi security forces.
Rumsfeld echoed the words of Sanchez and Iraq's US civilian administrator, Paul Bremer, who say the key to solving Iraq's problems is building up Iraqi security forces - not adding more US soldiers.
The Bush administration is pushing a new United Nations resolution aimed at persuading more nations to contribute troops. Russia gave its first signal that it could send peacekeepers to Iraq, and Britain said it was considering whether to increase its force levels.
Germany and France, who led opposition to the Iraq war, criticised the draft resolution, saying it falls short by not granting responsibility to Iraqis or a large enough role to the United Nations. But officials from both Germany and France said the US proposal was a good basis for negotiations.
Rumsfeld estimated that other countries could provide "maybe another division" in Iraq, or about 10,000 troops. There are now about 140,000 US troops and about an additional 20,500 from 29 other countries, including Britain.
A chief architect of the US invasion, Rumsfeld was credited with the decision to send a force less than half the size deployed by the Pentagon for the 1991 Gulf War.
However, the objective of this mission - occupying the entire country - was more ambitious than in 1991, when the United States sought only to drive Iraqi forces from Kuwait.
The newly named Iraqi foreign minister said no troops should be used from any of Iraq's neighbours.
"It is advisable that none of Iraq's neighbouring countries participate in peacekeeping missions because they may carry with them their own political agenda that may lead to tension and destabilisation. This applies to all neighbouring countries," Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told The Associated Press.
©AAP 2003
"They wanted to harm the unity of Islam," said imam Walid al-Azari at the Quiba mosque. He said the attack took place about 4:30am (1030 AEST Friday) when three gunmen got out of a pickup truck and opened fire with Kalashnikov rifles.
In Najaf, 180km south of Baghdad, more than 10,000 worshippers filled the area around the Imam Ali shrine waiting to hear the Friday sermon of Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim, whose brother was assassinated in a huge car bombing outside the mosque a week ago. The inside of the shrine compound was jammed as well.
Armed security men stood every five metres along the top of the Shi'ite shrine, the holiest in Iraq.
Al-Hakim, a member of the American-picked governing council, has taken over his slain brother's leadership position in the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. He was leader of the armed wing of the organisation, the Badr Brigade, which US forces ordered disarmed shortly after the war ended on April 9.
The group has rearmed in defiance of the US demand and many members, wearing armbands identifying themselves as Badr Brigade and carrying Kalashnikov rifles, were part of the security force.
In Baghdad, the top US commander in Iraq said more international troops are needed to stave off threats ranging from al-Qaeda terrorists to brewing ethnic and religious conflicts.
Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez said he had enough soldiers to accomplish the mission given to him by Washington, but its scope did not include guarding Iraq's porous borders or its thousands of kilometres of highways. Sanchez said last week it was impossible for coalition forces to defend the full length of pipeline that carries Iraq's oil.
He warned that international forces were needed to reinforce existing coalition forces in tackling looming security threats, such as Iranian fighters or possible conflict between Iraq's Sunni and Shi'ite Muslim sects.
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was in ousted leader Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit visiting troops of the 4th Infantry Division. He was to be in Mosul, in the far north, later in the day for a visit with the 101st Airborne Division.
He arrived in Baghdad and said the US military is "looking at ways of accelerating" the process of bringing former members of Saddam's military - and possibly his security services - into the Iraqi security forces.
Rumsfeld echoed the words of Sanchez and Iraq's US civilian administrator, Paul Bremer, who say the key to solving Iraq's problems is building up Iraqi security forces - not adding more US soldiers.
The Bush administration is pushing a new United Nations resolution aimed at persuading more nations to contribute troops. Russia gave its first signal that it could send peacekeepers to Iraq, and Britain said it was considering whether to increase its force levels.
Germany and France, who led opposition to the Iraq war, criticised the draft resolution, saying it falls short by not granting responsibility to Iraqis or a large enough role to the United Nations. But officials from both Germany and France said the US proposal was a good basis for negotiations.
Rumsfeld estimated that other countries could provide "maybe another division" in Iraq, or about 10,000 troops. There are now about 140,000 US troops and about an additional 20,500 from 29 other countries, including Britain.
A chief architect of the US invasion, Rumsfeld was credited with the decision to send a force less than half the size deployed by the Pentagon for the 1991 Gulf War.
However, the objective of this mission - occupying the entire country - was more ambitious than in 1991, when the United States sought only to drive Iraqi forces from Kuwait.
The newly named Iraqi foreign minister said no troops should be used from any of Iraq's neighbours.
"It is advisable that none of Iraq's neighbouring countries participate in peacekeeping missions because they may carry with them their own political agenda that may lead to tension and destabilisation. This applies to all neighbouring countries," Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told The Associated Press.
©AAP 2003