BAGHDAD (AP) — A powerful roadside bomb yesterday killed the governor and police chief of a southern province that has been torn by fierce fighting between Shi’ite factions, and the country’s prime minister urged residents to show restraint and not launch reprisals.
Elsewhere, two Sunni leaders who took public stances against al Qaeda in Iraq were attacked, in a sign the terror network may ramp up retaliation against local chiefs who oppose it.
The flurry of attacks hinted at the complex challenges facing Iraq, from both Shi’ite militias and Sunni extremists, who often target not just Americans but also their own sects in vicious internal battles.
The United States has pointed to an anti-al Qaeda alliance of local Sunni leaders as a sign of turnaround, but the attacks showed the high risks local leaders face by joining.
In one, militants bombed the northern Baghdad home of a moderate and highly regarded Sunni cleric, Sheik Wathiq al-Obeidi, who had recently spoken against al Qaeda. He was seriously wounded and three relatives were killed.
A Sunni insurgent umbrella group threatened Sheik al-Obeidi on Tuesday, calling him a traitor and accusing him of working with the U.S.-backed alliance of Sunni tribal leaders, who are fighting al Qaeda in western Iraq.
The cleric issued a call against al Qaeda last week during a funeral prayer for two nephews thought to be killed by extremists.
“We have to fight foreign fighters in our city,” witnesses quoted him as saying. “We have to fight those linked to al Qaeda.”
In the second attack, a local tribal leader in Albu Khalifa, a village west of Baghdad, was gunned down by militants who broke into his home late yesterday, police said.
Sheik Fawaq Sadda’ al-Khalifawi had recently joined the anti-al Qaeda alliance in Anbar, said a police officer in the town of Karmah, 50 miles west of Baghdad.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, returning from a trip to Iran, said Iran seeks more talks with the United States on stabilizing Iraq.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.