Sectarianism Casts Shadow Over Mideast

An unidentified man enters a Shiite community center in Manama, Bahrain, on Monday, Jan. 29, 2007, where Shiites were marking Ashura, a commemoration of the assassination of Imam Hussein, grandson of Islam's founding Prophet Mohamed. The banner behind praises Hussein. Many Shiites from eastern Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the mostly Sunni Arab Gulf visit Bahrain, the only Shiite-majority country outside Iran and Iraq, for colorful Ashura events and processions that close streets and businesses nationwide. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali) (Hasan Jamali - AP)

QATIF, Saudi Arabia -- Like many Saudi Shiites, Abdullah Abdul-Hussein is worried that if the government does not end anti-Shiite tirades by influential Sunni clerics, the sectarian conflict ravaging Iraq and threatening Lebanon could spread to his country.

"This rhetoric provokes trouble," said Abdul-Hussein, referring to recent statements from key members in Saudi Arabia's clerical establishment that have urged Sunnis around the world to expel Shiites from their lands.

"We are all citizens of the same country. The government should not allow such excess," said the 37-year-old merchant, expressing a worry shared by many in this mainly Shiite town.

Fears of sectarian tensions go beyond this sleepy oasis in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, where the kingdom's Shiite minority is centered. The bloodshed in Iraq and turmoil in Lebanon have enflamed the Shiite-Sunni divide across the Middle East and in much of the Islamic world.

The tensions are more palpable as Shiites mark Ashoura, one of their holiest days, Tuesday. It commemorates the 7th-century death of Imam Hussein in a battle with the leaders of what would become the mainstream Sunni branch of Islam. His death began the schism between Sunnis and Shiites.

In mainly Sunni Jordan, Shiites did not make their customary pilgrimage to the shrine of Jaafar bin Abi Taleb, one of the Prophet Muhammad's companions, in the southern town of Mazar on Sunday, unlike previous years when hundreds of Shiites _ mainly Iraqis and Iranians _ showed up.

Shiite pilgrims were in part afraid of reprisals from Sunni residents of Mazar and nearby towns over the hanging of Saddam Hussein, a Sunni. Saddam's Dec. 30 execution sparked anger among Sunnis around the Middle East against Iraq's Shiite-led government.

In Bahrain, where a Shiite majority is ruled by a Sunni-led government, sectarian bitterness is also growing. Recently a Sunni lawmaker accused Shiites of stocking weapons at Ashoura religious sites, angering Shiites. While state TV previously covered Ashoura events, this year there has been little mention of the ceremonies.

Elsewhere, a suicide bomber killed a police officer protecting a Shiite Muslim procession in Pakistan on Monday, and rocket fire wounded 11 worshippers at a Shiite mosque, stoking fears of sectarian bloodshed.

In Qatif, black flags lined some streets as a sign of mourning for Imam Hussein. Ashoura prayers rang out of mosques and carpets lined a huge courtyard being readied for a gathering where actors would recreate Hussein's slaying.

Only in the past couple of years have Saudi Shiites been permitted to commemorate Ashoura fully and include such rituals as chest-beatings in public processions to demonstrate grief. Some Shiites go further and bloody themselves by striking their bodies with knives, chains or razors.

The government lifted the Ashoura ban as part of reforms that have given Shiites more freedom to practice their religion. The changes were seen as a sign that _ with Shiites gaining power in Iraq _ the Saudi government wanted to accommodate its Shiite community, who make up 10 to 15 percent of the kingdom's 20 million citizens and are concentrated in oil-producing areas.