Despite the riddle about the plotters behind Friday's attack in Iraq's holy city of Najaf, the deadly car bombing has sent a dire message, although a still vague one, to the world.

At least 82 people were killed, including the leading Shiite cleric Mohammad Baquer al-Hakim, and hundreds of wounded people crowded local hospitals and mosques.

Human flesh and body parts were seen around at the bombing site -- the Imam Ali mosque, the most holy shrine for Shiite Muslims in Iraq.

However, it was not only the horrific scene, but also the dangerous particularities of the action that shocked the world.

"If it's done by rival Shiite groups, they have gone too far as it is considered a crime to attack the holy site," said Muhsen Hussein, a former senior journalist with the defunct Iraqi News Agency.

He was referring to the Imam Ali mosque, which is believed to be the tomb of Ali, son-in-law of Prophet Mohammed and the fourth lineal Khalifa.

But Moqtaba al-Sadr, a most remarkable rival to Hakim, has condemned the attack and called on people to wage a three-day strike to demonstrate their disapproval to such a "criminal" action.

The ambitious young cleric vehemently demands a quick withdrawal of the US-led coalition forces, while Hakim, a relatively moderate leader, prefers mild steps toward the end of the occupation.

Hussein also expressed his worry over the possibility that Sunni Muslims might be the attackers.

"That equals to a civil war, which is too hard to digest for the Iraqis. They have already been plagued with conflicts," he explained.

A US-backed politician, Ahmed Chalabi, did not hesitate to blame the incident on Saddam and his henchmen, as many Iraqis believed that Saddam's loyalists were the only beneficiaries.

But Cairo-based analyst Mohammed Saef doubted whether senior Baath party members, who were in a precarious stage themselves, were in the mood to devise such a sophisticated bombing.

"It'll be really terrible if they are, or Saddam himself is, behind the attack, because that testifies the ousted leader still has the ability to counterattack," said Saef.

Other observers attributed the bombing to foreign fighters or international terrorists, who they said did not care much about Iraqis' destiny and only seek to create trouble for Americans.

They admitted, however, that it would be the first time, thus a dangerous step, for a terrorist group to target a single Arab religious leader.

It remains to be seen which is the true message, but what is obvious is that the coalition forces were given a red alert and the Iraqi civilians were put in a real peril.

Friday's blast is the third massive car bombing in a month in Iraq, after the Jordanian embassy explosion which killed 17 and the UN truck bombing killing 22.

Although the US government repeatedly vowed that it will not be deterred to go on with its global war against terror, it can't help asking itself the old question: Can it win Iraq's future after it has won the major combat?

(Xinhua News Agency August 30, 2003)