Shi'ites, Sunnis celebrate feast with calls for unity

BAGHDAD -- Shi'ite and Sunni Arabs celebrated the Islamic feast of sacrifice yesterday with calls for an end to the bloodshed that has racked Iraq since last month's elections. Sunni Arabs tempered their appeals with renewed calls for the withdrawal of US troops.

In a day with no violence reported, Iraqis nationwide celebrated the opening of the four-day Eid al-Adha celebration with visits to relatives, food, and sweets. Lambs were slaughtered and food was distributed to the poor.

''This Eid is a happy day for all Muslims, especially Iraqis. But it comes after painful events that happened in Karbala and Ramadi," said Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shi'ite.

He referred to the killings of more than 120 people in suicide bombings last week in the Shi'ite holy city of Karbala and at a police recruiting center in Ramadi.

On Monday, suicide bombers infiltrated the heavily fortified Interior Ministry compound in Baghdad and killed 29 Iraqis -- an attack claimed by Al Qaeda in Iraq, a group with an avowed aim of starting a sectarian war.

Violence has increased since the Dec. 15 elections, with at least 498 Iraqis and 54 US troops killed.

Jaafari said, despite the violence, Iraq had made significant advances in 2005, citing a large turnout in Dec. 15 elections as one of the biggest achievements.

About 70 percent of Iraq's 15 million voters, including large numbers of Sunni Arabs, participated in the elections, although some Sunni Arab groups complained the vote was tainted by fraud -- delaying the release of results.

''The wide participation of the majority I also consider to be an Eid celebration," Jaafari told Cabinet ministers visiting him. ''Even in counties where security and stability are established, it is rare to reach such a rate of 70 percent which Iraq reached."

Eid al-Adha -- one of Iraq's biggest holidays -- concludes the pilgrimage to Mecca and is celebrated by Muslims worldwide. It commemorates Abraham's readiness to sacrifice his son in God's test of the patriarch's faith.

At the last moment, God substituted a sheep for the son. The story is shared by all the great monotheistic religions -- Islam, Judaism, and Christianity.

Jaafari's governing United Iraqi Alliance emerged with a large lead in the elections, far ahead of a Kurdish coalition and Sunni Arab groups but without the majority it will need in the 275-member parliament to avoid a coalition.