68 Killed or Found Dead in Iraq
Pastor Dale Morgan
May 7, 5:06 PM EDT
*68 Killed or Found Dead in Iraq*
By RAVI NESSMAN
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD (AP) -- Suicide bombers killed 13 people in a pair of attacks
Monday around the Sunni city of Ramadi in what local officials said was
part of a power struggle between al-Qaida and tribes that have broken
with the terror network.
In all, at least 68 people were killed or found dead nationwide Monday,
police said. They included the bullet-riddled bodies of 30 men found in
Baghdad - the apparent victims of sectarian death squads.
All but two were found in west Baghdad, including 17 in the Amil
neighborhood where Sunni politicians have complained of renewed attacks
by Shiite militiamen, according to a police official who spoke on
condition of anonymity because he was not supposed to release those details.
The power struggle among the Sunnis, which surfaced last year, could
prove decisive in the U.S. campaign to win over significant portions of
the Sunni community, which has formed the bedrock of the insurgency.
The first of the Ramadi area attacks happened about noon in a market on
the northwest outskirts of the city, killing eight people and wounding
13, said police Col. Tariq Youssef.
About 15 minutes later, police at a nearby checkpoint spotted a second
car bomb and opened fire, but the driver was able to detonate the
vehicle, Youssef said. Five people, including two policemen, were killed
and 12 were wounded, Youssef said.
The attacks occurred in areas controlled by the Anbar Salvation Council,
an alliance of Sunni tribes formed last year to drive al-Qaida from the
area. Council officials blamed the attacks on al-Qaida.
"They committed this crime because we have identified their hideouts and
we are chasing them," said Sheik Jabbar Naif al-Dulaimi.
In a Web statement Monday, an al-Qaida front organization, the Islamic
State of Iraq, warned Sunnis against joining the government security
forces - a move supported by the Salvation Council.
"We tell every father, mother, wife or brother who does not want to lose
a relative to advise them not to approach the apostates and we swear to
God that we will use every possible means to strike at the infidels and
the renegades," the group said.
The Islamic State also claimed responsibility Monday for attacks that
killed 34 people over the weekend - including six U.S. soldiers and a
Russian embedded photojournalist who died in a roadside bombing in Baqouba.
The 34 also included the police chief of Samarra, Col. Jalil Nahi
Hassoun, who was killed Sunday in an attack on police headquarters. He
was buried Monday following a tearful procession by police in blue
uniforms who escorted the flag-draped coffin as it was driven in the bed
of a white pickup truck through the Sunni city.
At least five al-Qaida fighters were killed in the fighting in Samarra,
a U.S. military official told The Associated Press, speaking on
condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release details
of the attack.
Also Monday, the military announced a U.S. soldier had been killed by
small-arms fire in western Baghdad the day before, bringing to nine the
number of troops who died Sunday.
The security situation in the capital figured high in talks between
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and President Bush, who conferred Monday
in a video conference.
Al-Maliki told Bush of the need to maintain cooperation between U.S. and
Iraqi forces as they continue their crackdown, which is intended to end
the chaos and violence in Baghdad, the prime minister's office said in a
statement.
White House spokesman Tony Snow said Bush and al-Maliki spoke about the
Iraqi leader's push for political reconciliation in his country, an area
considered vital to greater stability.
The two leaders spoke for about 25 minutes with staff members in
attendance, then for another period of time one-on-one, according to Snow.
"The prime minister is working with the presidency council to advance
the political process in Iraq, including a lot of the legislation that
we've been discussing over the last few months," Snow told reporters.
"But issues of communications and reconciliation were at the fore."
Al-Maliki, a Shiite, reiterated his determination to work with Sunni
leaders, Snow said.
But al-Maliki's government remains burdened by "narrow agendas" standing
in the way of unity and crucial U.S.-backed legislation, such as a
proposed law to share Iraq's oil wealth, said Gen. David Petraeus, the
top U.S. commander in Iraq. Petraeus spoke on Monday to the annual
meeting of The Associated Press.
In other violence, a mortar attack killed five people in Baghdad's mixed
Baiyaa neighborhood, where more than 30 people were slain in a car
bombing the day before.
In northern Iraq, gunmen attacked an Iraqi military checkpoint at the
town of Baaj, killing two soldiers, two police officers and a civilian,
police said.
The international Red Cross announced Monday it would increase its
operations to provide food, water and medical treatment for the hundreds
of thousands of Iraqis who have fled their homes but remain in the country.
"This conflict is inflicting immense suffering on all Iraqis," Beatrice
Megevand-Roggo, head of Middle East operations for the International
Committee of the Red Cross, said in Geneva. "Civilians are bearing the
brunt of the relentless violence."
Hundreds of thousands of other Iraqis have fled to Jordan and Syria.
Jordan said Monday that the more than 750,000 displaced Iraqis residing
in the country has cost the government $1 billion a year and increased
Jordan's population by 14 percent.