Imams Bridge in Baghdad reopened
BAGHDAD – In a symbolic gesture of unity, Iraqi authorities Tuesday reopened a bridge linking Sunni and Shiite neighborhoods that had been closed since a 2005 stampede claimed nearly 1,000 lives – the single biggest loss of life of the Iraq war.
The Imams Bridge spans the Tigris River and links the Sunni neighborhood of Azamiyah – a former al-Qaida stronghold – and the Shiite district of Kazimiyah, where Shiite militias once held sway.
It has been closed since Aug, 31, 2005, when rumors of a suicide bomber panicked thousands of Shiite pilgrims walking to a religious shrine in Kazimiyah. Iraqi officials said nearly 1,000 people died, including those who dived into the river or were crushed in the stampede.
The bridge remained closed to prevent gunmen from using it to launch attacks on the rival religious communities.
On Tuesday, however, hundreds of Shiites from Kazimiyah and Sunnis from Azamiyah hugged and kissed friends or strolled across to see a part of the city where they had feared to venture during the wave of sectarian fighting in 2006 and 2007.
Government officials and clerics from the two Muslim sects gathered on the bridge for a ceremony, in which speakers hailed the event as a triumph over sectarianism.
“This bridge is the symbol of the true spirit and solidarity of the Iraqi people,” said Sheik Saleh al-Haidari, a Shiite community leader. “It is a day of joy for the Iraqi people because we have shown to the world that we are one united people.”
At the end of Tuesday’s ceremony, hundreds of Sunni Azamiyah residents crossed the bridge on foot to the Kazimiyah side, chanting “We protect Iraq with our blood” and “Sunnis and Shiites are brothers.”
The reopening was the latest sign of improved security in Baghdad since U.S. and Iraqi forces routed Shiite militias last spring and thousands of Sunni insurgents broke with al-Qaida in Iraq.
U.S. and Iraqi authorities say violence has dropped about 90 percent since last year, despite a recent uptick in small bombings.
Nevertheless, sectarian bitterness still lies beneath the surface, and the Iraqi army has placed checkpoints at the bridge to screen possible militants.
As a sign of the ongoing tension, twin blasts Tuesday hit a truck delivering newspapers and a line of newspaper vendors waiting nearby to collect the papers to supply neighborhood newsstands in mostly Shiite east Baghdad, police said.
It was unclear how many people were killed in each blast, but police and hospital officials said the total number of dead was three and that 14 were wounded.
Tuesday’s bridge ceremony occurred a day after the deadliest attack in Baghdad in months killed 31 people and wounded 71 others, according to the Interior Ministry. The Iraqi army disputed the figure, saying five were killed and 37 wounded. It was not possible to reconcile the difference.