Sunni, Shia leaders celebrate Al-Aimma Bridge reopening

Photo By Master Sgt. Jerry Saslav | Sheik Saleh Al-Haidari, the leader of the Shia endowment, from the Khadhimiya District of Baghdad embraces Sheik Ahmed Al- Samarra'i, the leader of the Sunni endowment, from the Adhamiyah District of Baghdad in the center of the Al-Aima Bridge linking the Adhamiyah and Kadhimiyah Districts of Baghdad, Nov. 11. The two leaders celebrated the bridge's opening. The bridge, which links the two districts, had been closed for three years after approximately 1,000 people died in a stampede there, Aug. 31, 2005.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

11.13.2008

Story by Sgt. Jerry Saslav 

3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division

By Sgt. Jerry Saslav
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division

BAGHDAD – For more than three years a series of gates and barriers blocked the Al-Aimma Bridge across the Tigris, keeping the citizens of Adhamiyah and Kadhamiyah Districts of Baghdad separated.

Since then, the bridge has stood as a lonely and grim memorial to the deaths of nearly 1,000 Shia pilgrims caught in a terror inspired stampede, Aug. 31, 2005, on their way to the Imam Kadhim Shrine on the Kadhamiyah side of the bridge. Rumors of a suicide bomber in the crowd is believed to have caused the stampede.

The situation was dramatically different on Nov. 11 when district leaders from opposite sides of the bridge casually strolled across and met in a friendly embrace to mark the reopening of the historic bridge.

Sheik Ahmed Al- Samarra'i, the leader of the Sunni endowment from Adhamiyah, and his counterpart, Sheik Saleh Al-Haidari, the leader of the Shia endowment from Kadhamiyah, crossed from their districts to meet in the center and officially reopen the Al Aimma Bridge.

The ceremony was planned and organized by the government of Iraq, and security was provided by Iraqi national police and Iraqi army.

"To open the bridge now is clear evidence of security stability, and it is a huge victory and significant achievement," said Iraqi Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, spokesman for the Baghdad Operations Command.

Historically, the bridge has served as a main route for Shia pilgrims to visit the Kadhamiyah shrine to Imam Moussa Al-Kadhim, the Seventh Shite Imam. On the Adhamiyah, side, the Abu Hanifa Shrine, where the tomb of one of the four founders of the Sunni school of Islamic law lies, sits near the base of the bridge.

Terrorists and criminal elements have, in the past, used each district as a base to attack its neighbors and incite sectarian violence.

"We don't need sectarian violence; we need peace with our neighbors," said Sheik Amer Hamed Al-Azawee, an Adhamiyah tribal leader.

Leaders on both sides have tried to bridge the gab between the two districts in other ways.

Approaching the bridge on the Adhamiyah side is a large billboard with the picture of Othman Ali Obaidi, an 18-year-old Sunni high school student who drowned while trying to rescue Shia pilgrims more than three years ago.

Amer said the bridge between Adhamiyah and Kadhamiyah can now stand as a symbol of progress and reconciliation between the two districts.

• Date Taken: 11.13.2008
• Date Posted: 11.13.2008 14:02
• Story ID: 26295
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ