Sunni rebels blamed for deadly attack on elite Iranian guards

[cool user name]

Sunni rebels blamed for deadly attack on elite Iranian guards


Robert Tait in Tehran
Wednesday February 14, 2007
Guardian Unlimited


Iranian officials move the bus from the site where it was attacked in Zahedan. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images



Sunni rebels allegedly linked to al-Qaida were blamed for a deadly car bomb attack which destroyed a bus and killed up to 18 revolutionary guards today in the latest outbreak of violence to strike one of Iran's most unstable provinces.

The attack took place in the Sistan-Baluchestan provincial capital, Zahedan, in south-east Iran, as the guards were being bussed to work. Witnesses said the bus was travelling in the city's Ahmadabad district when it was overtaken by a car which then stopped suddenly.

(snip)

Last year, 22 provincial officials were shot in cold blood after their convoy was ambushed while travelling along a remote road. The government blamed the attack on groups backed by the UK and US, whom it has repeatedly accused of trying to stir ethnic unrest in Iran's border provinces. In December 2005, a member of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's security detail was killed in a clash with an armed group during an official visit to the province.

Hossein Ali Shahriyari, MP for Zahedan, said insurgents were using Pakistan – a key US ally – as a sanctuary from which to strike Iran and called on the authorities to confront the Islamabad government. "Why doesn't our foreign diplomatic apparatus deal with Pakistan, whose soil has turned into a safe heaven for insurgents?" he asked.

(rest of the article at Guardian UK)

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Clear something up for me please.

I was under the impression that OBL and al-Quaida wanted to UNITE all Muslims, esp. Sunnis and Shia. Why would al-Quaida pick the Sunnis? B/c they make up ca 80% of Muslims demographically?

[BearSquirrel2]

2. Osama is ...

Osama is Wahabi, a branch of Sunni Islam. These guys do not believe in "populist" Islam. They believe that THEY should be in charge.

[CJCRANE]

3. AFAIK

Al-Qaeda is Sunni and against Shias (they've been blamed for attacking Shia mosques).

Even though Osama is a black sheep in Saudi Arabia, his actions in other countries seem to benefit them.

[cool user name]

5. I'm not sure OBL thinks of the Shia as Muslims. They are considered ...

... apostates. At least that's the general thinking unless someone knows something that I'm missing. :shrug:

[htuttle]

4. Wait now -- who's side are we supposed to be on in this one?

Are we supposed to think this was a good thing, or a bad thing?

:crazy: :crazy: :crazy:

[cool user name]

6. Hard to tell.

Iran alleges that the Sunni rebels are being supplied by the US via Afghanistan and Pakistan. It's sort of the reverse of what we are accusing them of regarding Shia rebels being aided by Iran.

It's a topsy-turvy world, eh?