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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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June 12th,
2009 - Harith al-Obeidi, Sunni Lawmaker, Shot Dead in Broad Daylight in Iraq |
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Harith al-Obeidi, Senior
Sunni Lawmaker, Shot Dead In Broad Daylight In Iraq By Kim Gamel Huffington Post June 12, 2009 Baghdad - The moderate
leader of the largest Sunni bloc in parliament was assassinated Friday after
delivering a sermon at a Baghdad mosque, a killing that could set back
efforts to reconcile differences between the two Muslim sects before national
elections. Harith al-Obeidi, 47, was an
outspoken advocate for prisoners' rights, one of the most divisive issues in
relations between the disaffected Sunni minority and the Shiite-led
government. He was killed a day after
colleagues said he called on parliament to summon interior and defense
ministry officials to answer allegations of torture in Iraqi jails. Although
most detainees are Sunni, al-Obeidi promoted human rights for all Iraqis,
even followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Politicians traded theories
and accusations over a possible motive for the killing - ranging from
retaliation for his campaign for detainees, to punishment by Sunni extremists
for his joint efforts with Shiite groups to achieve national reconciliation. The brazen daylight shooting
in a heavily guarded area raised fresh concerns about the ability of Iraqi
forces to maintain security with U.S. forces withdrawing from cities by the
end of the month. The attack took place in a western Baghdad neighborhood
that was once a Sunni insurgent stronghold until local tribal leaders turned
against al-Qaida in Iraq. The gunman shot and killed
al-Obeidi and a bodyguard in the mosque courtyard at about 1:30 p.m., then
was killed himself after detonating a grenade as he tried to flee, according
to Iraqi officials. "While we were leaving
the mosque we heard a gunshot fired, followed by an explosion," said
Majid Hameed, a 50-year-old worshipper wounded in the shoulder by shrapnel.
"I blame the security forces for allowing gunmen to enter the
neighborhood even though all entrances are blocked by checkpoints." Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki, who warned a day earlier that violence was likely to increase
ahead of the U.S. withdrawal and the Jan. 30 national elections, ordered an
investigation. "This cowardly crime is
a futile attempt to incite sectarian rifts among the Iraqi people and to
prove that terrorist organizations are still there after these organizations
have received hard punches by our armed forces," he said in a statement
read on Iraqi state TV. The shooting followed a
spate of deadly bombings that U.S. and Iraqi officials have warned are part
of an campaign by Sunni insurgents or former members of Saddam Hussein's
Baath party to re-ignite sectarian bloodshed and undermine confidence in the
government. Sunni lawmaker Omar
Abdul-Sattar said al-Obeidi may have drawn ire for his high-profile role in
promoting human rights for all Iraqis and the proper treatment of detainees. Abdul-Sattar linked the
assassination with Wednesday's car bombing that killed at least 35 people
near the mainly Shiite city of Nasiriyah. "Both incidents have a
clear message of trying to heat up the atmosphere ahead of the U.S.
withdrawal," he said. Fellow lawmaker Salim
Abdullah, a spokesman for the bloc which al-Obeidi led in parliament,
suggested al-Qaida in Iraq may have played a role in the killing. Colleagues noted that
al-Obeidi visited both Sunni and Shiite prisoners and was passionate in
calling for their fair treatment. Ahmed al-Masoudi, a lawmaker
loyal to al-Sadr, said al-Obeidi angrily denounced prisoner abuse during
Thursday's parliamentary session. "What happened to Dr.
Harith al-Obeidi might have a connection to what is going on inside the Iraqi
detention centers, including brutal torture and rape," he said. Al-Obeidi complained about
the abuses in his final sermon on Friday, saying "nobody dares to tell
the ruler that such imprisonment is wrong." What happened immediately
after the attack was a matter of dispute. Guards at the scene said the
assailant was chased a few hundred yards down the street, then detonated a
grenade, killing himself and an undetermined number of pursuers. But police said guards
killed the attacker after he threw the grenade during a shootout. They said
at least four other people, including a worshipper, were killed. Iraqi military spokesman
Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi said the attacker was found with a card
identifying him as a 25-year-old named Ahmed Jassim Ibrahim from the mainly
Sunni neighborhood of Mansour. But authorities believed the
attacker was younger and that the ID card was fake, al-Moussawi told The
Associated Press. Al-Obeidi took the helm of
the Iraqi Accordance Front - which holds 44 seats in the 275-member
parliament - in May after his predecessor Ayad al-Samarraie became the
parliamentary speaker. His death leaves a power vacuum in the three-party
bloc at a crucial time as politicians and parties are jockeying for power
ahead of next January's elections. Persistent violence has
raised concerns about the readiness of Iraqi forces to take over their own
security as U.S. forces start to withdraw. A U.S. commander in the
northern city of Mosul announced that Iraqi police arrested two of their own
in connection with an ambush of an American platoon at a police station on
Feb. 24. An American soldier and an interpreter were killed and five others
were wounded in the attack. The suspects, believed to be
a police officer and a sergeant, were arrested during a joint U.S.-Iraqi raid
early Monday and are in the custody of Iraqi police, according to Army Col.
Gary Volesky, who commands U.S. troops in northern Iraq's Ninevah province. Associated Press Writers
Chelsea J. Carter in Mosul and Mazin Yahya in Baghdad contributed to this
report. External link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/12/harith-alobeidi-senior-su_n_214694.html |