Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization

August 26, 2008

Kirkuk: Suicide Bomber Kills 7; Official Targeted

Below is an article published by the International Herald Tribune :

Kamal Shyaa Abdullah was warned to drive in a guarded convoy when he traveled through the streets of Baghdad - he was a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Culture and was soon to become a deputy minister. But he disliked all the fuss of bodyguards and extra cars, and he refused protection.

On Saturday [23 August 2008], Abdullah, 54, was killed by gunmen as he and his driver headed down the highway toward a public garden where they had planned to relax in the hottest hours of the afternoon.

Akil al-Mendlawi, a spokesman for the Ministry of Culture, said that Abdullah, a well-known scholar and a member of the Communist Party, had become friends with Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki when both men were in exile in Syria.

Abdullah's promotion to deputy minister had been approved, and Maliki was expected to sign papers confirming his appointment within days.

Violence also erupted on Saturday [23 August 2008] in the city of Kirkuk, where a suicide bombing killed at least seven people and wounded at least 15, including a prominent member of the U.S.-backed Sunni forces known as Awakening Councils. The oil-rich city has been at the center of a struggle for control among Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen and other groups.

The bomber ignited an explosives-filled vest inside an automobile dealership in a southern area of the city, according to Major Salih al-Lihabi of the Kirkuk police. The target of the bombing was Abdul Kareem Ahmed al-Obaydi, the leader of the Awakening movement in Diyala Province, who was visiting Kirkuk to attend a funeral and to buy a car, Lihabi said.

Obaydi, his son and two bodyguards were killed when the bomb exploded, a few minutes after 7 p.m.

The suicide bombing was the second in Kirkuk since last weekend.

In Baghdad, U.S. military officials released an Iraqi photographer working for The Associated Press who had been held in jail for almost three months. The photographer, Ahmed Nuri Raziak, 38, was arrested at his home in Tikrit on June 4 [2008].

Major John Hall, a spokesman for the U.S. military, said that Raziak had been detained because he was believed to be a security risk but was released when "after review, he was determined not to pose a risk."

Reuters reported that Raziak's release came two days after the military freed an Iraqi cameraman for Reuters, Ali al-Mashhadani, who had been held for three weeks without charge after being arrested while renewing his credentials at a U.S. military press office.

Military officials released Raziak to representatives of The Associated Press at a military compound in Baghdad. Kathleen Carroll, executive editor of the AP, said in a statement that the news agency "will be seeking more specific information about why he was picked up and held and about his experience during his incarceration."