Shi'ite political sources said the gunmen appeared to be both Sunni Arabs and Shi'ites loyal to Ahmed Hassani al-Yemeni, whom they described as an apocalyptic cult leader convinced he leads the vanguard of the Mahdi -- a messiah-like figure in Islam whose coming heralds the start of perfect world justice.
There have been manifestations of a similar, violent Muslim cult in the past growing from both Sunni and Shi'ite communities, including in recent history.
It is not clear where these fighters were drawn from but their leader, according to Shi'ite political sources and Iraqi security sources, has been active in Najaf until recently.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/1/29/worldupdates/2007-01-29T014025Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_-285306-4&sec=Worldupdates
If this is true, that leads us back to the 1st story I posted:
Al Yamani is another name for Ahmed bin al Hassan who was a student of Ayatollah Mohammed al Sadr, the Shia cleric slain in 1999 and the father of Muqtada al Sadr. About two years ago al Yamani began calling on people to follow him and claiming that he had seen Imam al Mahdi (the twelfth Shia Imam who went into occultation in the 10th century AD and is expected to return like the messiah) and that the Mahdi had ordered him to lead the nation. He sent letters to presidents and leaders (including Bush in the U.S. and Khamenai in Iran ) asking them to leave power and submit to his orders. Until recently his movement was quiet and it was ignored by Shia and the authorities. It is still not clear why the fighting has started but the Yamani group issued a statement on their website accusing the Iraqi forces of targeting and destroying one of their mosques.
http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/1051/Fighting_Breaks_Out_In_Najaf
Yep. Great post.
Check post 180 of this thread. According to all our Arm Chair Pattons the Shia and the Sunni never ever could possibly ever work together. Seems our enemies have no problem matching up Shia and Sunni thugs