Shrine blast imperils U.S. hopes of a pullout

SAMARRA, Iraq — Insurgents posing as police destroyed the golden dome of one of Iraq's holiest Shiite shrines, setting off violence that seemed to push Iraq closer to all-out civil war than at any point since the U.S.-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

The bombs that ripped through the 1,200-year-old Askariya shrine Wednesday also delivered a severe blow to U.S. hopes for a smooth exit from the country.

Anger over the bombing raises the likelihood that Shiite religious parties will harden their positions and reject U.S. demands to curb militias and compromise — concessions needed to form a new government with Sunni Arabs. Any delay in forming a government almost certainly means a delay in the day when U.S. troops can begin to come home.

No one was reported injured in the Askariya shrine bombing but at least 19 people were killed in retaliatory violence — many of the 90 attacks on Sunni mosques were carried out by Shiite militias.

Many leaders called for calm. "We are facing a major conspiracy that is targeting Iraq's unity," said President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd. "We should all stand hand in hand to prevent the danger of a civil war."

President Bush pledged American help to restore the mosque after the bombing north of Baghdad, which dealt a severe blow to U.S. efforts to keep Iraq from falling deeper into sectarian violence.

"The terrorists in Iraq have again proven that they are enemies of all faiths and of all humanity," Bush said. "The world must stand united against them, and steadfast behind the people of Iraq."

British Prime Minister Tony Blair also condemned the bombing and pledged funds toward the shrine's reconstruction.

U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and the top American commander in Iraq, Gen. George Casey, called the attack a deliberate attempt to foment sectarian strife and warned it was a "critical moment for Iraq."

Three Sunni clerics were among the 19 people killed in reprisal attacks that followed the bombing, mainly in Baghdad and predominantly Shiite provinces to the south, according to the Iraqi Islamic Party, the country's largest Sunni political group.

Many of the attacks appeared to have been carried out by Shiite militias that the United States wants to see disbanded.

In predominantly Shiite Basra, police said militiamen broke into a prison, hauled out 12 inmates, including two Egyptians, two Tunisians, a Libyan, a Saudi and a Turk, and shot them dead in reprisal for the shrine attack.