|
Iraq: Roadside bomb kills senior Shiite lawmaker
An Iraqi lawmaker loyal to anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr was killed Thursday when a bomb struck his convoy in Baghdad, officials said. The explosion hit the convoy carrying Saleh al-Auqaeili and other Shiite lawmakers from al-Sadr's parliament bloc as it passed about 200 yards from an Iraqi army checkpoint in a heavily secured area near Baghdad's main Shiite district of Sadr City, according to one of his colleagues.Al-Auqaeili was taken to a hospital in Baghdad, where he later died of his wounds, according to Sadrist spokesman Ahmed al-Massoudi and a fellow lawmaker, Hassan al-Rubaie. At least one bystander was also killed in the bombing. The U.S. military blamed Shiite extremists for the blast, which occurred shortly before 10 a.m. The attack raised concerns that internal rivalries within political groupings, whether Shiite or Sunni, could emerge ahead of upcoming provincial elections. Internal battles could be a major threat to Iraq's stability, even as sectarian violence ebbs. Al-Auqaeili was a senior member of al-Sadr's political bloc, which has 30 seats in the 275-member parliament. The Shiite cleric's cease-fire order to his militia has been a key factor in a sharp decline in violence over the past year. Al-Auqaeili was known for his moderate stance in the al-Sadr movement, where some factions are pushing for a return to violence, said another Sadrist lawmaker, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal issues. ... Posted by: ed 2008-10-09 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=252277 |