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34 Bodies Discovered As Rice Visits Iraq
By PAUL GARWOOD, Associated Press Writer
8 minutes ago
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The bodies of 34 men shot execution-style were found in three locations in less than 24 hours, police said Sunday, a day when drive-by shootings and suicide bombings killed at least eight Iraqis, including a senior Industry Ministry official and a top Shiite cleric.
The spree of attacks came as Secretary of State of Condoleezza Rice made a surprise visit to Iraq, a day after the U.S. military announced it had successfully wrapped up a weeklong offensive in a remote desert region near the Syrian border aimed at followers of Iraq's most-wanted terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Rice met with leaders of the new national government and urged patience for Iraqis weary of violence and insecurity.
Soon after the offensive ended Saturday, gunmen released the governor of Iraq's western Anbar province, relatives and a government official said. Gov. Raja Nawaf Farhan al-Mahalawi was seized Tuesday as he drove from Qaim and kidnappers had vowed to hold him until U.S. forces withdrew from the border town.
Insurgents launched more brazen attacks Sunday in a seemingly endless campaign apparently aimed at enflaming sectarian tensions, destabilizing Iraq's new government and forcing U.S.-led troops out of the country.
Gunmen in two cars shot to death 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, Sheik Qassim al-Gharawi, and his nephew were killed in another drive-by shooting in the capital's New Baghdad neighborhood, according to police Lt. Col. Ahmed Aboud.
Al-Gharawi was an aide to Iraqi spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and responsible for conveying al-Sistani's edicts to Shiites in parts of Baghdad, Shiite lawmaker Jala Aldin al-Saghir said.
Shiites make up 60 percent of Iraq's 26 million people, while Sunni Arabs who were dominant under Saddam Hussein and are believed to be driving the insurgency comprise 15 percent to 20 percent of the population.
The bodies of 13 men, most appearing to be in their 20s, were discovered face down in a shallow grave in a garbage-strewn lot in eastern Baghdad's impoverished Sadr City, a Shiite neighborhood, Lt. Col. Shaker Wadi al-Maliki said.
Local residents saw people in a truck dump the bodies on the ground and cover them with soil, said another policeman, Lt. Col. Hafidh Maan.
Judging by the nature of the wounds and the condition of the bodies, police officials believed the men were shot either late Saturday or early Sunday.
An Associated Press photographer saw the bodies on the ground blindfolded, with their hands tied behind their back and at least three bullet wounds in each of their heads. The men were wearing civilian clothes but had no identifying documents.
Members of the Badr Brigades, a Shiite militia, first came across the bodies while searching for hidden homemade bombs.
Police also discovered 11 slain men with their hands tied behind their backs and fatal bullet wounds to the head dumped in a deserted chicken farm in Huqoul, a town in the Latifiyah area, 25 miles south of the capital.
Two trucks riddled with bullet holes were found nearby. Police Capt. Muthna Khalid Ali said identity documents and keys found on two of the bodies indicated they owned the trucks and were among 11 truck drivers kidnapped in the area last month.
Latifiyah is in an insurgent stronghold known as the Triangle of Death that has been the scene of repeated tit-for-tat killings and kidnapping between Shiite and Sunni Muslim groups.
In the battleground city of Ramadi, 70 miles 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 were left in an eastern part of the city, the statement added without providing further details.
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