Iraqi President Barham Salih dismissed calls by radical Shiites to demolish the shrine of a revered Sunni leader in Baghdad, saying the inflammatory remarks came from “discordant voices”.
Government officials and community leaders scrambled to contain rising sectarian tensions after calls spread on social media to demolish the shrine to Imam Abu Hanifa Al Numan, the founder of the Hanafi school of Sunni jurisprudence .
The calls were believed to have originated with the Al Shirazi group, which has followers in Iraq, the Gulf states and Britain and is known for opposing prominent Sunni imams and even other Shiite groups.
"These discordant voices do not represent the reality in this society," Mr Salih told a gathering of Sunni clerics and Sunni Endowment officials in Abu Hanifa mosque, which is built over the shrine to the imam.
The group is also believed to be behind calls to demolish a statue of Abu Jaafar Al Mansur, an Abbasid Caliph who founded Baghdad in the 8th century.
They accuse both of them of killing Imam Jaafar Al Sadiq, the sixth of 12 imams revered by Shiites.
The calls were shared widely on social media in Iraq, accompanied by an audio recording attributed to the group’s spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Sadiq Al Husseini Al Shirazi, in which he blamed Iraq’s problems on the shrine.
“I say, If Iraqis want to get rid of their problems, they have to demolish the tomb of Abu Hanifa and turn it into a park,” he said.
“After that, you will see, all Iraq’s problems will be solved automatically. Iraq will not see any good with the presence of Abu Hanifa's tomb.”
To prevent protests or any further escalation, Iraqi security forces were sent to the mosque over the weekend but no protesters showed up.
A handful of demonstrators did gather around the statue of Al Mansur, but they were dispersed by the security forces.
In an effort to draw attention to the history of centuries of peaceful coexistence between Sunnis and Shiites in Baghdad, Mr Salih earlier visited the shrine of Moussa Al Kadhim – a Shiite imam who died at the end of the 8th century – in the Shiite majority Kadhimiya district, before crossing the bridge to Adhamiya, the Sunni majority neighbourhood where the Abu Hanifa mosque is located.
“I want to send a message to underline the values, history, ethics and the religion that we share, that resists sedition and anyone who wants to target our unity and harmony,” he said.
Since last week, Shiite religious leaders and their supporters have descended on Abu Hanifa mosque to express solidarity. Some of them held joint prayers in a gesture of unity.
"The people are aware now and that the scenario of 2006 will not be repeated again," Adhamiya resident Yassir Ismaiel Nassir told The National, referring to the bombing of a Shiite shrine that unleashed a bloody sectarian conflict.
“Seeing senior government officials and Shiites and their religious leaders here today among us is a source of comfort to the residents of Adhamiya,” Mr Nassir said.
“The years of sectarian fighting are gone,” he said.
Maestro
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The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Scoreline
UAE 2-1 Saudi Arabia
UAE Mabkhout 21’, Khalil 59’
Saudi Al Abed (pen) 20’
Man of the match Ahmed Khalil (UAE)
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Chef Nobu's advice for eating sushi
“One mistake people always make is adding extra wasabi. There is no need for this, because it should already be there between the rice and the fish.
“When eating nigiri, you must dip the fish – not the rice – in soy sauce, otherwise the rice will collapse. Also, don’t use too much soy sauce or it will make you thirsty. For sushi rolls, dip a little of the rice-covered roll lightly in soy sauce and eat in one bite.
“Chopsticks are acceptable, but really, I recommend using your fingers for sushi. Do use chopsticks for sashimi, though.
“The ginger should be eaten separately as a palette cleanser and used to clear the mouth when switching between different pieces of fish.”
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What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
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