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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Gunmen Kill Influential Iraq Cleric's Aide |
| 2005-07-01 |
| EFL: BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Gunmen killed an aide to Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric and two bodyguards in a drive-by shooting outside a Baghdad mosque Friday - an attack likely to further increase tensions between the Shiite majority and the Sunni minority, officials said. Shiite cleric Kamal Ezz al-Deen al-Ghuraifi was shot as he was about to leave al-Doreen mosque after leading prayers, according to his son, Hamid Kamal. Police Lt. Thair Mahmoud confirmed the attack. "Gunmen in a speeding car sprayed him with machine guns," Mahmoud said. Two bodyguards were killed and another four were wounded, he said. Al-Ghuraifi, in his 60s, had been a Baghdad representative of Iraq's leading Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, for the past decade, said Amer al-Hussaini, a friend of al-Ghuraifi's and a member of al-Hawza al-Ilmiyah, the Shiites' ancient seminary in the southern city of Najaf. It was the third attack on al-Sistani aides in recent weeks. Last week, gunmen killed Samir al-Baghdadi, who represented al-Sistani in Baghdad's predominantly Shiite al-Amin district. In May, attackers assassinated Shiite cleric Mohammed Tahir al-Allaq, al-Sistani's representative in the Jurf al-Nadaf area near Madain, about 14 miles southeast of Baghdad. "These attacks are aimed at stoking sectarian tensions between Iraqis," al-Hussaini said. Separately, five masked gunmen stormed a Sunni mosque in the same neighborhood and kidnapped an imam, Sheik Amer al-Tikriti, during Friday prayers, police 1st Lt. Mohammed al-Hiyani said. A Sunni-dominated insurgency has killed about 1,380 people - mostly civilians and Iraqi forces - since Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari announced his Shiite-dominated government April 28. In the attack on the Islamic Dawa Party offices in Baghdad's Mansour neighborhood, the suicide bomber detonated the car near a checkpoint about 80 feet from the building, which used to be al-Jaafari's house. Interior Ministry administrative affairs undersecretary police Maj. Gen. Adnan al-Assadi had left the building about a half-hour earlier, al-Nedawi said. It was not clear if he was the target. A neighbor was killed and four armed guards for the compound were wounded, al-Nedawi said. Following the blast, U.S. troops blocked roads leading to the offices. Also Friday, a roadside bomb struck a police patrol at a checkpoint on Baghdad's outskirts, wounding two policemen, 1st Lt. Mohammed al-Hayali said. Another roadside bomb missed a U.S. military convoy in the New Baghdad district but killed a civilian and wounded three others, police Capt. Mohammed Izz al-Deen said. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #6 Sistani has lost several aides over the last few years. This business gets very personal. |
| Posted by: buwaya 2005-07-01 13:01 |
| #5 Maybe after a few Sunnis get snatched and axed, their leaders will realize their "wasting asset" is all used up and they'll turn over Zarko-boy, and Dick Cheney will turn out to have been correct. Well, I can dream, can't I? |
| Posted by: Bobby 2005-07-01 12:21 |
| #4 Expect a few Baghdad area Sunni clerics to be targetted in the next week or so. As I understand it, the attack on the Shia party violates a brokered cease fire. |
| Posted by: mhw 2005-07-01 11:49 |
| #3 say buh-bye, al-tikriti |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-07-01 10:15 |
| #2 I suspect the Evil Zionist Superpowers are involed in this! |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2005-07-01 09:39 |
| #1 Iraqi Shiite Muslim martyr watch |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2005-07-01 09:39 |