Straw condemns stampede terrorists
Foreign secretary Jack Straw has condemned the “depravity” of terrorists who launched mortar bombs shortly before a stampede of pilgrims in Baghdad left up to a thousand dead.
Mr Straw described the results of the apparent terrorism as a “most shocking” and a “terrible tragedy”, on a scale that “almost defies our imagination”.
The stampede occurred as a million Shia Muslims filed across the Azamiyah Bridge over the river Tigris on their way to a holy shrine.
Panic ensued among the jittery crowd after rumours spread of an imminent al-Qaida suicide bomb attack.
Earlier, mortar shells exploded close to the shrine of the 9th century Shia saint.
Hundreds of women, children and the elderly were crushed or drowned in the stampede.
In a statement Mr Straw said he utterly condemned the mortar bomb attack which killed 30 innocent civilians.
“The depravity of these individuals who commit these acts of terrorism against their fellow Muslims sadly knows no bounds,” he said.
Iraq toiled under “a totally unacceptable” level of terrorism perpetrated by terrorists who wrongly claimed to be acting in the name of Islam, Mr Straw said.
According to the Iraqi interior ministry, there have been at least 769 confirmed deaths and 307 injuries, many serious. The confirmed death toll is expected to grow.
The Foreign Office said the tragedy was the single biggest loss of Iraqi life since the US-led invasion in 2003.
