Iraq's Shi'ite Mosques Close In Solidarity With Sunnis

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani (file photo) (AFP) May 11, 2006 -- Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, today ordered all Shi'ite mosques to be closed for three days in a town where a Sunni religious leader was recently killed.

A representative of Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani said the move shows solidarity with Sunnis following the death of the imam, who was killed along with two associates as they left a mosque in the town of Al-Zubayr on May 10.

President Jalal Talabani on May 10 called on separate religious factions to unite in rejecting acts of sectarian fighting.

Earlier today, three U.S. soldiers were killed in two separate bomb attacks southwest of Baghdad. Separately, five civilians were reported killed in a bombing in Baghdad's Mansur district.

(AP, AFP, dpa)