Iraq: Suicide bombing kills 10
BAGHDAD (AP) - January 17, 2008 The blast on the outskirts of the provincial capital, Baqouba,
35 miles northeast of Baghdad, was the second deadly suicide attack
in two days against Ashoura worshippers in Diyala. The province is
one of Iraq's most violent regions and a main battleground for U.S.
and Iraqi troops trying to overwhelm al-Qaida strongholds in the
capital and elsewhere around the country.
The bomber detonated his explosives among crowds of Shiites at
the door of the mosque, targeting the men who were performing the
rites just outside, a police official said, speaking on condition
of anonymity because he feared being attacked. He said one person
was wounded.
A Shiite witness, who would identify himself only as Abu
Mohammed for fear of being attacked, said he was standing near the
mosque watching the Ashoura ceremony.
"Suddenly I heard a big explosion and saw the people running in
all directions," he said. "Minutes later, some came back to the
site to search for relatives or their children. There were several
bodies and wounded people on the ground."
Another witness, who referred to himself only as Abu Salam,
described the suicide attack as a "criminal act."
"Such a painful event will not deter us from continuing Ashoura
ceremonies. We do not want further Shiite-Sunni strife in our
area."
Sunni Arab militants have repeatedly targeted Ashoura
processions, with hundreds killed by mortar shelling or car
bombings since 2003. Ashoura, which comes later this week,
commemorates the death in a 7th century battle of Imam Hussein, one
of Shiite Islam's most revered saints. His tomb is in Karbala,
about 60 miles south of Baghdad.
Wednesday's bombing took place in Khan Bani Saad, a Shiite
village nine miles south of Baqouba. A female suicide bomber struck
black-clad worshippers preparing for Ashoura, killing at least nine
people in an attack that highlighted insurgents' widening array of
tactics against a U.S.-led offensive in key areas on Baghdad's
doorstep.
Diyala has eluded the nationwide trend toward lower violence
over the past six months. At least 273 civilians were slain in
Diyala last month, compared to at least 213 in June, according to
an Associated Press count. Over the same span, monthly civilian
deaths in Baghdad dropped from at least 838 to at least 182.
The decline in violence has coincided with last year's buildup
of American troops in Iraq, along with the emergence of largely
Sunni groups fighting al-Qaida in Iraq as well as a cease-fire by
radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia.
The additional troops were intended to reduce the bloodshed,
thus giving the embattled government of Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki breathing room to pursue national reconciliation among
the country's Shiites, Sunni Arabs and Kurds.
The Kurds are a key group within the national governing
coalition and have been Washington's most reliable allies in Iraq.
Since the ouster of Saddam Hussein they have forged a close
relationship with the majority Shiites.
But assertive acts by the Kurds, such as their insistence on
cutting their own oil deals and refusal to fly the Iraqi national
flag in the region, have irritated the Shiite-dominated government
in Baghdad as well as Sunni Arabs. Many see such moves as a threat
to the country's national unity.
The Iraqi Oil Ministry has decided to stop cooperating with
international oil companies participating in production-sharing
contracts with the Kurdish regional administration in northern
Iraq, an official said Thursday.
The decision is considered a first step toward implementing the
ministry's threats to blacklist and exclude these companies from
any future deals with Baghdad if they refuse to abandon their oil
deals with the self-ruling Kurdish government.
Four companies are thought to have agreements with both Oil
Ministry and with Kurdistan: the United Arab Emirates' Crescent,
Canada's Western Oil Sands and Heritage Oil, India's Reliance
Industries and Austria's OMV.
A spokeswoman for Reliance Industries, who declined to be named,
said the company has not received any official communication from
the Iraqi government. She said the firm hoped any possible issues
will be resolved without affecting business.
The Oil Ministry's decision came days after 145 Iraqi Arab
lawmakers from rival sects joined forces to criticize what they
claim is overreaching by the Kurds, alleging the powerful
U.S.-backed minority's go-it-alone style threatens national unity.
They took issue with Kurdish ambitions in the disputed northern
city of Kirkuk and in negotiating deals with foreign oil companies
without involving the central government.
With the national oil and gas law stuck in dispute between the
Kurds and Arab leaders over who has the final say in managing oil
and gas fields, the Kurds have signed 15 production-sharing
contracts with 20 international oil companies. The Oil Ministry
considers those contracts illegal.
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Associated Press writers Sameer N. Yacoub and Sinan Salaheddin
contributed to this report.