BAGHDAD (AP) — The Askariya Shrine in Samarra is among Iraq’s most sacred sites for Shi’ite Muslims and was famous for its towering golden dome, which was destroyed in a bombing last year blamed on Sunni militants linked to al Qaeda. Similar factions are thought responsible for blasts that brought down the shrine’s two minarets yesterday.
The shrine contains the tombs of the 10th and 11th Shi’ite imams who lived more than 1,200 years ago, Ali al-Hadi and his son Hassan al-Askari. The compound also is near the place where the last of the 12 Shi’ite imams, Mohammed al-Mahdi, disappeared. Al-Mahdi, known as the “hidden imam,” was the son and grandson of the two imams buried in the Askariya shrine. Many Shi’ites think al-Mahdi will return as a savior.
The landmark golden dome was completed in 1905.
Samarra, about 60 miles north of Baghdad, is one of the four Shi’ite holy cities in Iraq. The city is also the site of the ninth-century Great Mosque with a 170-foot spiral minaret that is one of the most recognized landmarks in Iraq.
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