The bodies of 38 men shot execution-style were found in three different places in Iraq yesterday as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced visit to try to reach out to minority Sunnis. Insurgents launched brazen attacks yesterday in a campaign apparently aimed at enflaming sectarian tensions, destabilizing Iraq's new government and forcing US-led forces out of the country.Gunmen in two cars shot dead Industry Ministry official Col. Jassam Mohammed Al-Lahibi and his driver in western Baghdad's Ghazaliyah neighborhood, police and Interior Ministry officials said.
A leading Shiite cleric, Sheikh Qassim Al-Gharawi, and his nephew were shot dead in another drive-by shooting, this time in the capital's New Baghdad neighborhood, according to police Lt. Col. Ahmed Aboud. Gharawi was an aide to Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani.
Four groups of men, most bound, blindfolded and shot in the head, where found in Baghdad and locations south and west of the capital. Police in eastern Baghdad's impoverished Sadr City discovered 13 slain men, most appearing to be aged in their 20s and three heavily bearded, lying face down in a shallow grave in a rubbish-covered lot, said police Lt. Col. Shaker Wadi Al-Maliki. The bodies lay on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs, eyes blindfolded and at least three bullet wounds in each of their heads. The men were wearing civilian clothes, but had no identifying documents.
Police made a similar discovery late Saturday in Huqoul, a town in the Latifiyah area, about 40 km south of the capital, said police Capt. Muthna Khalid Ali. The bodies of 11 men with their hands tied behind their backs and fatal bullet wounds to the head were found dumped near a deserted chicken farm, according to Ali. Two trucks riddled with bullet holes were found nearby. Ali said identity documents and keys found on two of the bodies indicated they owned the trucks and were also among 11 truck drivers kidnapped in the area last month.
The bullet-sprayed bodies of Judge Dhia Essa Hamadi, Education Ministry official Mahdi Essa and a bodyguard were found yesterday near the same Huqoul chicken farm, a hospital official said on condition of anonymity. A fourth man who lived nearby, Samir Khudhair Abbas Al-Anbari, was shot in the head and his body dumped on the side of a major road passing through Latifiyah.
In the battleground city of Ramadi, 115 km west of Baghdad, the slain bodies of 10 Iraqi soldiers were found Saturday, an Interior Ministry statement said. The men were shot and their bodies dumped in eastern Ramadi's Abu Obeid area.