BAGHDAD — Prominent Sunni Arab clerics who had condemned the new Iraqi government opened the door Friday to participation of their followers in the country's army and police.
Their fatwa, or religious edict, offered a ray of hope on a day of continued violence when bombers damaged one of Iraq's most cherished religious monuments and thousands of Shiite Muslim pilgrims remained overnight in Karbala rather than risk being attacked on their journey home after marking Arbayeen, the end of the sect's holiest period of the year.
Sixty-four Sunni clerics signed the edict declaring that "the security of the people and the country is a duty."
They set three conditions, however, including an order "not to support occupation forces at the expense of Iraqis."
Although the conditions made it unclear whether followers could serve alongside U.S. military forces, an Iraqi government spokesman said it was a clear sign that the clerics have "got the message that the future of Iraq depends on us all standing on the same side."
The shift is not likely to cause a wave of Sunni enlistments, said Interior Ministry spokesman Sabah Kadhim. Sunni Arabs, who make up about 20% of the population, already are represented in the Iraqi armed forces, Kadhim said.
But the insurgency is dominated by Sunni Arabs, and the religious leaders' decision to boycott the January national election was seen as tacit support for the rebels. Some radical clerics have publicly condoned violence against Americans.
The announcement was made by Sheik Ahmad Abdul-Ghafoor Samarrai, of Baghdad's Umm Qura Mosque, during his Friday sermon. He also is a member of the Muslim Scholars Assn., a hard-line Sunni group.
Kadhim said the most important effect of the edict would be on the civilian population.
"It's the people we're after," he said. The edict will help enlist ordinary people who currently "are not helping us through [providing] information about terrorists and are harboring terrorists."
In Samarra, a city of ancient monuments 60 miles north of Baghdad, a bombing Friday damaged one of Iraq's most distinctive structures, a 9th-century spiral minaret. At least two witnesses said the blast had opened a hole in the top of the tower, but others described the damage as superficial.
Deputy Culture Minister Maysoon Damluji in the interim government said she planned to send an assessment team to the site.
