Shiite cleric al-Sadr visits church hit in 2010 attack, prays with Sunni Muslims

(4 Jan 2013)
AP TELEVISION
1. Various of Muqtada al-Sadr entering Abdul Qadir al Gailani, a prominent Sunni mosque
2. Various of al-Sadr seated
3. Various of al-Sadr praying
4. Al-Sadr walking into Our Lady of Salvation Catholic church
5. Various of al-Sadr seated
6. Al-Sadr and Shiite clerics talking to Father Ayssar al-Yas
7. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Muqtada al-Sadr, Shiite cleric:
"We have learned a big lesson from this church and from our brother Christians in Iraq. We have learned from their patience and efforts to return to peace and to confront the terrorists. The terrorists who want to split religions in Iraq."
8. Cutaway of al-Sadr
9. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Muqtada al-Sadr, Shiite cleric:
"We sympathise with demonstrators and with their demands. Their demands are right and we have only one comment on de-Baathification: we don't want the Baath party to rule again."
10. Al-Sadr walking away
AGENCY POOL
11. Al-Sadr walking away amongst crowds
12. Exterior of Abdul Qadir al Gailani mosque
STORYLINE:
Firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr visited a Baghdad church that was the scene of a deadly 2010 attack, as well as a Sunni mosque on Friday, an apparent overture to other religious groups as opposition mounts against his rival, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Al-Sadr, wearing his signature black cloak and turban, said he visited the Our Lady of Salvation church to express sorrow at the attack and send a message of peace to Iraq's Christian community.
At the church, al-Sadr sat quietly in the front pew, listening and nodding as Father Ayssar al-Yas welcomed him.
The priest then gave al-Sadr a tour of the recently renovated church, pointing out places where attackers in 2010 killed priests and worshippers during a church service ambush.
Over 50 were killed in the attack, blamed on Sunni extremists.
Al-Maliki himself attended a ceremony to officially reopen the church last month.
"We have learned a big lesson from this church and from our brother Christians in Iraq," he said. "We have learned from their patience and efforts to return to peace and to confront the terrorists."
The cleric's stops at the holy sites - a rare public appearance by al-Sadr outside predominantly Shiite parts of Iraq - came as tens of thousands of protesters angry over perceived second-class treatment of Sunnis gathered in Sunni-dominated areas to maintain pressure against al-Maliki's Shiite-led government.
"We sympathise with demonstrators and with their demands," he said.
Al-Sadr's heavily protected convoy then made its way to the al-Gailani mosque, one of Baghdad's most prominent Sunni places of worship, shortly before midday Friday prayers.
The visit comes amid rising sectarian tensions a year after the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.
Al-Sadr grudgingly backed fellow Shiite al-Maliki following elections in 2010. But last year he joined Iraq's minority Sunni Arabs and Kurds in calling for al-Maliki to resign.
Al-Sadr, since coming to prominence following the U.S.-led 2003 invasion, has frequently made overtures to Sunnis and others.
But militias loyal to him were some of the worst perpetrators of sectarian violence last decade, and he is still viewed with hostility or suspicion by many Sunnis, Kurds and others.


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