Correspondents of international news agencies in Iraq reported that the Iraqi security forces deployed heavily around the shrine of Abu Hanifa al-Numan in the Adhamiya area of Baghdad, after Shiites called to demonstrate “against him.”
An RT reporter said, “A heavy deployment of the Iraqi army and other forces around the shrine of Numan, after calls for a demonstration against it.”
He added: “In recent days, calls have spread on social media to protest against what they called Abu Hanifa al-Nu’man’s killing of Imam al-Sadiq, one of the Imams of the Rafidah (Shiites) from the dynasty of Fatima al-Zahra, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad.”
Two days ago, there were calls from activists and bloggers, linked to armed factions and parties affiliated with Iran, to demolish Iraqi heritage monuments, such as the Abu Jaafar al-Mansur monument, west of Baghdad, due to historical differences with Imam Jaafar al-Sadiq, while those calls extended to demand the demolition of the shrine of Imam Abi Hanifa.
Hundreds of Iraqi security forces deployed around the mosque’s perimeter, set up checkpoints, and prevented passersby from approaching, in anticipation of any sudden gatherings by those calling for that, while the city’s entrances were closed, by placing concrete barriers, to ease the congestion inside.
An officer in the Iraqi Ministry of Interior said, “The Monitoring and Anti-Rumour Unit monitored two days ago calls on social media, especially Twitter, calls from fake and unidentified accounts calling for the demolition of some shrines, as well as monuments and statues.”
He added that the calls stem from sectarian and extremist calls in explaining the Iraqi situation, as orders were issued by the supreme leadership, to move and stop those speeches that incite hatred and violence and fuel extremist ideology.
The Shiite cleric, Jawad al-Khalisi, also commented on the demonstrations calling for the closure of the Abu Hanifa al-Numan Mosque in the city of Adhamiya, explaining that “the enemies of the enemy began to move to provoke internal battles and cause sectarian strife.”
Source: Wakalat
