Senior Sunni MP died in Iraqi attack
Güncelleme Tarihi:
The Associated Press
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Haziran 13, 2009 00:00
BAGHDAD - A senior Sunni lawmaker was killed after delivering a sermon during Friday prayers at a mosque in a former insurgent stronghold in Baghdad, raising fears that violence could escalate ahead of Iraq's national elections next year.
Harith al-Obeidi, who led the main Sunni bloc in parliament, was known as a fierce advocate of human rights and the rights of mainly Sunni detainees - issues that have been flashpoints in relations between the disaffected Islamic minority and the Shiite-led government. Police said a gunman shot al-Obeidi as he left the mosque. The assailant was chased a few hundred yards down the street by mosque guards and then detonated a grenade, killing himself and an undetermined number of pursuers.
Attack comes after warning
The daylight shooting was the latest example of the militants' continued ability to stage brazen attacks despite heightened security measures and an overall decline in violence nationwide.
It came a day after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki warned that violence was likely to increase ahead of a June 30 deadline for U.S. troops to withdraw from urban areas as well as the national elections that are set for the end of January. Ziyad al-Ani, deputy secretary general of the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party, said al-Obeidi was on good terms with Iraq's fractured parties. "All his stances were humanitarian and nationalistic ones. I do not think that anybody would like to see him dead except the terrorist and sectarian groups who target nationalists and activists," he said.
Al-Obeidi's party is the Congress of the People of Iraq, one of three parties making up the Iraqi Accordance Front, which has 44 seats in Iraq's 275-member parliament. The other two parties in the bloc are the Iraqi Islamic Party and the National Dialogue Council.
The portly MP was chosen to lead the bloc in May after his predecessor Ayad al-Samarraie became parliamentary speaker, ending a months long impasse over the Sunni leadership of the legislative body. The persistent violence has raised concerns about the readiness of Iraqi forces to take over their own security as U.S. forces start to withdraw.
Attack comes after warning
The daylight shooting was the latest example of the militants' continued ability to stage brazen attacks despite heightened security measures and an overall decline in violence nationwide.
It came a day after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki warned that violence was likely to increase ahead of a June 30 deadline for U.S. troops to withdraw from urban areas as well as the national elections that are set for the end of January. Ziyad al-Ani, deputy secretary general of the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party, said al-Obeidi was on good terms with Iraq's fractured parties. "All his stances were humanitarian and nationalistic ones. I do not think that anybody would like to see him dead except the terrorist and sectarian groups who target nationalists and activists," he said.
Al-Obeidi's party is the Congress of the People of Iraq, one of three parties making up the Iraqi Accordance Front, which has 44 seats in Iraq's 275-member parliament. The other two parties in the bloc are the Iraqi Islamic Party and the National Dialogue Council.
The portly MP was chosen to lead the bloc in May after his predecessor Ayad al-Samarraie became parliamentary speaker, ending a months long impasse over the Sunni leadership of the legislative body. The persistent violence has raised concerns about the readiness of Iraqi forces to take over their own security as U.S. forces start to withdraw.