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Rumors are swirling in Baghdad and inside the Iraqi security forces regarding a dramatic standoff that apparently threatened a high-profile Iraqi official on Friday evening in a northern Baghdad district.
Mowaffak al-Rubaie, the national security advisor to the Iraqi government was pinned down for several hours in a Shi'a religious facility when 50 to 60 gunmen surrounded a Husseiniya (Shi'a place of worship) in the northwestern district of Shu'la, a predominantly working-class Shi'a area.
The gunmen, whose identities were unknown, trapped the Iraqi national security advisor and his guards inside the Husseiniya.
Details about the ensuing standoff are still sketchy. It is known that Iraqi forces and Rubaie's guards were able, apparently after several hours, to spirit him out of a back door in the structure to safety.
Eyewitnesses in Shu'la told IraqSlogger that American planes were scrambled to the skies above the incident as the standoff unfolded.
No casualties were reported resulting after the event, but security sources suggest to Slogger that fire was exchanged during the standoff and that some of the gunmen may have been killed.
Rubaie has since said that the attack did not target him personally and blamed unnamed "foreign-linked groups" for the attack, saying they sought to disrupt the observation of the Shi'a observance of the Ashoura rituals that were due to culminate on Saturday.
The responsible party for the standoff and possible assassination attempt is unknown, but Slogger sources report that speculation is swirling. The Sadrist Current enjoys a strong base in Shu'la, leading some to speculate that the Mahdi Army militia, nominally loyal to the Sadrist leadership, may have been involved. However, Sadrist officials have denied any involvement in the events. The Mahdi Army has also been under a "freeze" order since August that would make such well-organized operations very unusual.
Security sources tell Slogger anonymously that at least 15 men with links to the Sadrist Current in Shu'la were arrested in a crackdown after the standoff, and that the captives have denied any involvement in Friday's events.
Iraqi officials are also fingering the shadowy Jund al-Sama' ("Soldiers of Heaven") organization for possible involvement in the move against al-Rubaie, as well as in the fighting last week in the southern cities of Nasiriya and Basra, but no links have yet been demonstrated.
The Ansar al-Imam al-Mahdi movement, which was confirmed to have been involved in the Nasriya and Basra fighting last week, has denied links to the so-called Soldiers of Heaven group.
Some cynical observers suggest, without offering evidence, that Iraqi officials employ the Soldiers of Heaven label as a catch-all bogeyman for unrest and nefarious dealings in the Iraqi south.
Slogger sources inside the security forces also report a rumor that the would-be attackers who massed against Rubaie and his associates on Friday were in fact members of the Iraqi security forces, but these links cannot be confirmed at this time.
The standoff occurred the same day that the Rubaie placed an op-ed in the Washington Post arguing for a federal system in Iraq.
IraqSlogger cannot confirm any of the above-reported rumors at this time.
