Car bomb kills five in central Iraq
A car bomb exploded today in central Iraq, killing five people, including four police officers on patrol, while gunmen killed an education official in Baghdad.
The explosion in Khan Bani Saad, near the troubled city of Baqouba in central Iraq, also injured two police officers and three civilians, provincial police Col. Mudafar al-Jubori said.
In Baghdad, gunmen opened fire from a car, killing Hassib Zamil outside of the Education Ministry offices in the Sadr City neighbourhood, education official Ibrahim Abid Wali said.
This evening, the Abu Ghraib prison – made infamous by reports of prisoner abuse – came under attack, police officer Akram al-Zawbayee said. Plumes of smoke rose from the area. US military officials confirmed there was activity in the area, but refused to give further details.
Yesterday in the capital, insurgents fired a rocket-propelled grenade and shot at an armoured vehicle used to transport US troops on a road leading to the dangerous airport highway, the US military said. Two US soldiers were injured in the attack.
The US military reported that a US Marine was killed by enemy fire yesterday while conducting security operations in Ramad.
Jostling for parliament leadership positions intensified today, one day before the newly-elected National Assembly was to gather for its third meeting.
Adnan Pachachi, a senior Sunni assembly member, nominated himself for one of two vice presidential posts expected to be filled by a Sunni Arab.
Lawmakers remained divided over Sunni Arab candidates for the parliament speaker post.
In Tikrit, thousands of supporters of Sunni Arab legislator Meshaan al-Jubouri assembled in a stadium to support his candidacy for the parliament speakership.
A group of Sunni leaders nominated al-Jubouri for the post on Wednesday, but it was not clear if he had the backing of the entire Sunni community. Lawmakers in other coalitions also voiced their opposition to his candidacy.
Abdul Karim al-Anzi, a negotiator for the Shiite-led United Iraqi Alliance, said Industry Minister Hajim al-Hassani “gave his initial acceptance” to the nomination for the parliament speaker post. Al-Hassani has previously turned down the position. He could not be reached for comment.
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most revered Shiite cleric in Iraq, recently told a Shiite lawmaker, Dhari al-Faiadh, that the assembly members should select a speaker “in a democratic way,” said Maithen Faisal, an official in al-Sistani’s Najaf office.
Last month the reclusive cleric told a top UN official that he did not intend to involve himself in any political process, except for expressing his opinion during crises. The Shiite-led coalition in parliament came together under al-Sistani’s guidance.
In the south, supporters of the firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who led uprisings against US-led forces in Iraq last year, quarrelled yesterday night with guards at the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf, shouting slogans in support of al-Sadr.
The supporters were unaware of an agreement between Sadr’s office and the Najaf government that prohibits demonstrations at Iraq’s highly revered shrine for Shiite Muslims, said Sahib Al-Amiri, an official in al-Sadr’s office in Najaf. Al-Amiri said the problem had been resolved.
Also on Friday al-Sadr called on his supporters to stage a protest in Baghdad on April 9 to mark the second anniversary of US troops entering the capital.
Sheik Hassan al-Edhari, an official at al-Sadr’s Baghdad office, said the protesters will demand that the new Iraqi government set a timetable for withdrawing foreign troops and for trying Saddam.
Today the US military praised an edict issued by Sunni clerics that called for Iraqis to join police and army forces, saying it was a sign that people were fed up with the insurgency. But the statement added that enlistees “must be prepared to serve all the people.”
The edict, read by a cleric in the influential Association of Muslim Scholars, instructed enlistees to refrain from helping foreign troops against their own countrymen and said the move was designed to prevent security forces from falling into “the hands of those who have caused chaos, destruction and violated the sanctities.”
The announcement, endorsed by a group of 64 Sunni clerics and scholars, could help the new government boost the image of security forces struggling to fight the insurgency. For months, Sunni clerics had warned minority Sunnis, who were dominant under Saddam, against co-operating with Iraqi police and soldiers.
Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi today issued a statement condemning yesterday’s attack against a ninth-century minaret in the central city of Samarra, calling it an “affront to the nation’s history and humanity.”
The explosion blew away part of a wall on top of a minaret. Witnesses said two men climbed the 170-foot-tall minaret, then returned to the ground before the blast.
It was unclear why the minaret, one of Iraq’s most recognised landmarks, was targeted.
