"[2] Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki stated that Policemen at the shrine (15 of them according to US military sources[3]) had been detained for questioning along with "an unspecified number of other suspects.

"[3][6] It was confirmed that "the entire Iraqi security force responsible for guarding the mosque, the 3rd Battalion of the Salahuddin province police, was detained for investigation.

[6] On Sunday 17 June 2007 Iraqi forces captured four additional suspects and their raid "also turned up a compact disc showing attacks on U.S.-led troops, blasting caps and detonation wire, identification cards for access to al-Askari mosque and photographs depicting terrorist training exercises.

Standing before the flag of Iraq he said "I call on all civilians and believers and clergy to talk to people about the necessity of self-control and wisdom to foil the scheme of those evil ones who want to make use of this crime for political reasons.

"[5] He then read a quote from a prayer of Abraham found in the Qur'an "God, make this country safe and send its people your blessed rewards.

[3] Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani condemned the bombing but called on "believers to exercise self-restraint and avoid any vengeful act that would target innocent people or the holy places of others".

His spokesman Hamed al-Khafaf stated "He heavily condemns the attacks against the mosques of Talha ben Obaida Alla and al-Eshra al Mubashera in Basra.

[3] Maliki had just the day before been visited by U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte who pressured him for quicker results against sectarian violence, and on Sunday 10 June 2007 Admiral William J. Fallon told al-Maliki that an increasing number of U.S.

One of Sadr's spokesmen Salman Fraiji repeated such claims of conspiracy, saying "To split the [Suni and Shiite] Muslims is a card that the occupation is playing.

Vali Nasr, a Middle East expert at the Naval Postgraduate School expanded on this saying "Since the start in February of the U.S. military crackdown in Baghdad and environs, Sadr has been uncharacteristically subdued, an indication that he is waiting for U.S. forces to leave before reclaiming a prominent role.

[3] For the remainder of the day Iraqi security forces patrolled Samarra "firing in the air and announcing the curfew from loudspeakers mounted on jeeps.

... Members of the Iraqi security forces, which are dominated by Shiites, yelled threats at Samarra residents, blaming them for the destruction of the mosque and threatening revenge.

Some citizens, meanwhile, hurled remarks back, asking how anyone could destroy the minarets when the entire religious complex was being so carefully guarded by Iraqi security forces.

[citation needed] According to Iraqi police, on the day of the bombing before the curfew in the capital could take hold, arsonists set a Sunni mosque ablaze in the neighborhood of Bayaa in western Baghdad.

[15] Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki upon learning of events in Basra placed the city under indefinite curfew, and arrested a number of Iraqi security forces from there.

[16] There were also reports that within the capital, in the New Baghdad neighborhood, a local Shiite mosque loudspeaker issued calls to Mahdi Army guerrillas and blamed U.S. troops for the attack.

[17] While five bodies were found in Baghdad on Thursday the 14th, "presumed victims of sectarian death squads", the curfew was credited with causing a reduction in killing as the usual number is five times that.

[18] It was noted that the curfew was lifted a day after Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno admitted that security forces have full control of only 40 percent of the capital, which is now in the fifth month of the Iraq War troop surge of 2007.

[18] When the Baghdad curfew was lifted at 5 am (0100 GMT) on Sunday, 17 June,[citation needed] residents traveling on the streets were caught in a huge traffic jam "spawned by hundreds of new police and army checkpoints".

[18] The ban on vehicle traffic had also led to a lack of delivery trucks moving within the city causing steep price hikes in everything from fuel to fresh food.

[18] "Vendors weaved between cars waiting in traffic, selling paper fans, soft drinks and tissues to mop brows dripping in temperatures that hit 112.

"[18] While police commandos on "pickup trucks mounted with machine guns" speed through the streets "with sirens blaring and headlights flashing", they did follow government orders "to stop shooting in the air to clear traffic or warn motorists coming too close.

[18] In the Sunni-dominated neighborhoods within the Azamiyah area in northern Baghdad, which are known for insurgent activity, "Iraqi troops in combat gear patrolled the streets in armored cars.

[7] United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on "all Iraqis to avoid succumbing to the vicious cycle of revenge and to exercise maximum restraint while demonstrating unity and resolve in the face of this terrible attack.

[3] Also on the 13th in the nearby nation of Bahrain members of the Shiite ethnic majority marched through the streets of the capital Manama in protest of the bombing.

[19] Syed Ali Nasir Saeed Abaqati a leading Shia cleric from Lucknow, India held al-Qaeda responsible for destruction of the Al-Askari Mosque in Samarra, Iraq.