by Moujahid Mohamad
MOSUL, Iraq - Plans for a public funeral for the 47 people killed in a suicide bombing in Iraq's northern city of Mosul were cancelled on Friday after a mortar shell hit the site of the blast.
"The families decided to cancel a public funeral which was planned for Friday morning," said Shiite cleric Sayed Jassem Mohammed.
"This decision was taken after a mortar shell burst at 8:45 am (0545 GMT) at the site of the attack," he said, adding the families did not want to risk another calamity.
Forty-seven Iraqis were killed and more than 80 wounded in the suicide bombing on Thursday as mourners gathered next to the Sadreen mosque, where a service was being held for Hisham al-Araji, the Mosul representative for radical Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr.
Jassem recalled the moment when the explosion ripped through a funeral tent at 5:20 pm (1420 GMT) as food was being served to mourners.
"A ball of fire shot out, followed by falling debris, and panic swept the outdoor tent next to the Sadreen mosque," Jassem said.
"No one among the survivors had the time to see the bomber. The others who caught a glimpse of him are dead," he said.
"Volunteers started to put out the flames while others evacuated the dead and the wounded from the middle of the tent, which was destroyed by the blast," Jassem said.
Rescuers had to walk through puddles of blood and human remains, he said.
At Mosul general hospital, US army medics brought supplies and offered their expertise. Mosques and local television urged people to give blood, while families thronged the hospital through the night to identify their dead.
With the city on edge, Sunni Muslim leadership, fearful of reprisals, urged calm in the city, Iraq's third largest and one of its most ethnically and religiously diverse.
"It was terrorist attack meant to spark civil war but I think the Sunnis and Shiites will not succumb," said Nureddine Hayali, a spokesman for the Islamic Party.
The influential Committee of Muslim Scholars, which groups Sunni clerics, vigorously denounced the attack.
An aide to a revered Shiite cleric called on Friday for the rapid formation of the country's next government, saying the answer to rebel attacks is "to accelerate the political process and form a government that can ... protect the innocent."
Mohamed Hussein Haim, the son of the Grand Ayatollah Mohamed Hussein Hakim, one of the four most influential Shiite clerics in Iraq, added: "We condemn these attacks and demand the security forces take up their responsibilities."
Separately, a source from the office of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the spiritual guide for Iraq's Shiites, called for "unity and solidarity among all Iraqis despite the attacks targeting the innocent."
Mosul residents expressed outrage at the killings.
"Nobody can accept such attacks. There were children and old people among the victims," said engineer Ahmed Saadun.
"Who pretends this is holy war. The authors of this cowardly attack are looking to destroy Iraq and push it into the abyss," said Jalal Qassem, a doctor.
The city has been gripped by violence since November when the police force unravelled following insurgent attacks. And it saw very low Sunni turnout and numerous irregularities during the January 30 elections.
It is a stronghold of Islamic militant fighters and former regime loyalists.

03/11/2005 09:44 GMT