It will be interesting to see what the Shiites do after they get their election, and power.
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Aide to Top Shiite Cleric, and 5 Others, Killed in Iraq
By TERENCE NEILAN
Published: January 13, 2005
Gunmen shot and killed an assistant to Iraq's most powerful Shiite Muslim cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, together with the aide's son and four bodyguards, an official in the ayatollah's office in the Shiite holy city of Najaf said today.
The shooting took place late Wednesday as the assistant, Sheik Mahmoud Finjan al-Madaini, was returning from leading sunset prayers at his local mosque in the town of Madain, about 12 miles southeast of Baghdad, the official said.
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Another Sistani aide in Najaf, Abdul Rahim al-Afghani, was found dead on Wednesday, but the city's police chief, Ghalib al-Jazairi, said today that the cause was a brain hemorrhage, denying reports that he had been shot.
Ayatollah Sistani has been a leading voice in support of the Jan. 30 elections, which are strongly opposed by the Sunni Muslim minority, which dominated the country under Saddam Hussein.
Insurgents have recently stepped up their attacks on the Iraqi police, national guards, election officials and foreigners based in Iraq, and Wednesday's killing is a clear sign of their growing attempts to derail the vote and to anger the Shiites, who make up 60 percent of Iraq's 26 million people.
On Dec. 19 another close aide to Ayatollah Sistani was one of 12 people who died in a car bomb blast in Karbala. Another car bomber struck that day in Najaf, killing a total of at least 61 people dead in the two cities.
In continued violence today, 10 gunmen in two cars opened fire on a minibus picking up a Turkish construction worker early this morning from a central Baghdad hotel, killing the bus driver and six Iraqi passengers, hotel employees said. The gunmen then entered the lobby and kidnapped the Turk, leaving one of their cars behind.
The Turk, identified by the hotel employees as Abdulkader Tan, was said to have worked for a construction business that worked with the American-led occupation forces, also a frequent target of insurgents.
Northeast of Baghdad today, in Baquba, gunmen shot and killed a member of the Diyala Province's local council, The Associated Press reported. Hours earlier a roadside bomb killed a police officer and wounded six others, the agency said.
Iraqi employees of The New York Times in Baghdad contributed reporting for this article. |
