Officials: Bomber attacks Baghdad funeral, kills 28
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - January 1, 2008 The afternoon explosion took place in Baghdad's eastern Zayouna
neighborhood, a mixed Shiite and Sunni district, the officials said
on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to
release details of the attack.
The funeral was for Nabil Hussein Jassim, a retired lieutenant
colonel killed in a car bombing in downtown Baghdad's Tayaran
Square. That blast left at least 14 people dead.
In Jalula, a city about 80 miles north of Baghdad, the bodies of
a Sunni policeman and four of his relatives were found hours after
gunman abducted them from their home, authorities said.
The abductions occurred in Diyala province, where al-Qaida in
Iraq retains a presence and violence has persisted despite falling
elsewhere.
Hours later in the same province, a Shiite man and his
16-year-old son where killed in a drive-by shooting as they stood
outside their home, police said.
Late Monday, Iraq's government released statistics on the number
of civilians and members of security forces it said were killed in
2007.
According to the health, defense and interior ministries, 16,232
civilians, 432 soldiers and about 1,300 policeman died in 2007. The
year before, the ministries said that 12,371 civilians, 603
soldiers and 1,224 policeman were killed.
The government figures were roughly in line with a count by The
Associated Press.
For 2007, the count found that 18,610 Iraqis were killed. In
2006, the only other full year an AP count has been tallied, 13,813
died.
The AP count - which includes civilians, government officials,
and police and security forces - is compiled from hospital, police
and military officials, as well as accounts from reporters and
photographers. Insurgent deaths were not included. Other counts
differ and some have given higher civilian death tolls.
In addition to policemen and Iraqi soldiers, the more than
70,000 Sunni fighters who have joined an anti-al-Qaida in Iraq
movement are being targeted by extremists.
On Monday, a suicide bomber attacked a checkpoint manned by such
fighters, killing 12 people in one of a series of strikes against
the movement singled out by Osama bin Laden as a "disgrace and
shame."
Leaders of the rapidly expanding U.S.-backed movement, credited
with helping reduce the overall number of attacks in Iraq by 60
percent since June, condemned bin Laden's latest message to his
followers.
"We consider our fighting against al-Qaida to be a popular
revolution against the devil," said Sheik Mohammed Saleh al-Dohan,
head of one of the groups in southern Ramadi, a city in Anbar
province where the movement was born.
Al-Dohan blamed al-Qaida, which espouses a radical version of
Sunni Islam, for bringing destruction to Iraq: "They made enemies
between Sunnis, Shiites and Christians who lived in peace for
centuries."
Bin Laden and his fighters "are the traitors who betrayed the
Muslim nation and brought shame to Islam in all the world," he
said.
In a weekend audio message, bin Laden warned Iraq's Sunni Arabs
against joining the groups, known as "awakening councils," or
participating in any unity government. He said Sunni Arabs who join
the groups "have betrayed the nation and brought disgrace and
shame to their people. They will suffer in life and in the
afterlife."
The government, meanwhile, sent the speaker of parliament a
draft bill for an amnesty for some prison detainees, said spokesman
Ali al-Dabbagh.
The bill excludes those held in U.S. custody and those
imprisoned for a variety of crimes, such as terrorism, kidnapping,
rape, adultery, homosexuality and smuggling antiquities. It also
excludes senior figures of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party.
If passed in its current form, the bill could see about 5,000
prisoners released, al-Dabbagh said. The government has about
20,000 people in custody, while the U.S. military holds about
25,000.
Sunni lawmakers have criticized the draft for its limited scope.
They have argued that most prisoners are charged with terrorist
crimes, rendering the bill ineffective. Some also fear referring
the bill to the gridlocked parliament will actually delay prisoner
releases.
Many key draft laws - including measures to share oil revenue
and to allow some Baath Party members to hold government jobs -
have remained mired in parliament for months.
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Associated Press writer Hamid Ahmed contributed to this report.