The NYPD broke up a shoving match between Shia and Sunni Muslims along Park Avenue just two weeks before the bombing of the Shia mosque in Iraq

Washington Times:

The incident took place after a small group of young men carrying placards and shouting the Arabic word for infidel turned out to protest a Sunni group's annual religious procession, Newsday reports.

"We never thought it could happen in New York. We've had this procession for 20 years without any problems," said Istafa Naqvi, president of the Shah E Najaf Islamic Center in Brentwood.

The same tension that threatens to push Iraq into civil war is on the increase everywhere, including the United States, Muslim leaders said.

The schism between the Shia and Sunni began 1,400 years ago with a dispute over who should succeed the Prophet Mohammed. Although the two sects share the same basic articles of faith, their differences have moved beyond theology into the political and economic realms.

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