BAGHDAD, June 12: The bodies of 20 people, bound and shot in the head, have been found on a military firing range in the eastern suburbs of Baghdad, police said on Sunday. The identities of the victims were unclear and the bodies appeared to have been there some time, one police source said. They were found on Friday and were now in a Baghdad morgue, another police officer said.
Such finds have become a grim routine of the violence in Iraq. In the couple of months since a Shia-led government was formed, more than 900 people have been killed, fuelling fears that the nation could be pitched into civil war.
Insurgents among Saddam Hussein’s once-dominant Sunni minority have stepped up attacks on US and Iraqi security forces and civilians.
In the west of the country, US forces said they killed about 40 insurgents in air strikes on Saturday near Qaim on the Syrian border, a stronghold of guerillas.
At the scene on Sunday, it was hard to determine the number and identity of casualties. Local people said no fighters were there but prevented journalists from visiting some areas.
Also in the west, three civilian drivers were killed on the main desert highway between Baghdad and Jordan when insurgents and US troops exchanged fire, a local mayor said.
Four US soldiers were killed by roadside bombs in two similar incidents south of Falluja, a stronghold of the western insurgency which was captured by US troops last November.
Seven civilians were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded close to an Iraqi army patrol near the town and a police captain was shot dead as he left his home, relatives said.
Three mortar rounds landed close to a house in Baghdad where the funeral was taking place of the mother of one of Iraq’s top generals, Major General Rashid Fleya, police said.
One mourner was killed and two wounded. As police were trying to find the assailants, a bomb went off that wounded 10 people, five of them policemen, the police source added.
The government said some rebels had approached it looking for peace terms and it repeated its willingness to speak to groups which had not killed fellow Iraqis and renounced violence. Government spokesman Laith Kubba, speaking at a news conference, gave no details of who had made contact.
While some insurgents concentrate their attacks on US occupying forces, others have killed thousands of Iraqi civilians and members of security forces.
“Many have been trying to open channels to talk in recent weeks,” Kubba said. “Some were calling directly, saying ‘We did not kill any Iraqis but took up arms to resist the occupation and want to participate in the political process’.
“To those who have not carried out any killings of Iraqis and who are willing to give up violence and intend to take part in the political process, the door is open.”
Kurd parliament: In a related development, the Kurdish parliament in northern Iraq on Sunday elected veteran leader Masoud Barzani as president of the region, giving the group greater autonomy after decades of oppression under military dictator Saddam Hussein’s minority Sunni government.
Adnan al-Mufti, speaker of the Kurdish parliament, told a news conference that parliament unanimously elected Barzani, whose long-time rival Jalal Talabani, of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), became Iraq’s president earlier this year.
Barzani, head of the once rival Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), will be formally sworn in on Tuesday because poor weather prevented officials from flying to the region from Baghdad for a ceremony on Sunday, officials said.
After months of wrangling following an election at the same time as national voting on Jan 30, the show of support for Barzani in the new post strengthens the Kurds’ grip on the north of Iraq and may bolster their bid to ensure they maintain their autonomy once a new constitution is drawn up in Baghdad.
That independence came with US military support after Saddam Hussein’s defeat in the 1991 Gulf War. It was jeopardised by a civil war between the KDP and PUK. But for a decade Kurds have enjoyed greater prosperity than other Iraqis.
The 20-per cent Kurdish minority has joined Arab Shias who make up 55 per cent of Iraq’s population.
Hundreds of Kurds celebrated in several cities in the north after Barzani was named president. Some waved Kurdish flags.
“Barzani’s election is the beginning of the realisation of the Kurdish dream of independence and the building of the Kurdish state in the region,” said 24-year-old student Sara Ahmed in the city of Sulaimaniya.
But in Baghdad, some Iraqis criticised the election of Barzani, son of Kurdish nationalist leader Mustafa Barzani.
“Having another Kurdish president is unacceptable to Sunnis like myself,” said Tarek Adeeb, a transport company employee.
Firaas Maher, a Christian, said too much influence in the hands of one group threatened to exclude other communities.
“During Saddam’s time he only helped the people closest to him while we were left to live in the dirt. I don’t want that to happen again,” said the mobile telephone shop employee.
The Kurds have been pushing for a fully federal Iraq, something the Arab majority is less keen on. Moreover, the Kurds want the oil centre of Kirkuk as their capital, a demand that
has angered Arabs and Turkmen also vying for influence in the city which lies south of the present Kurdish borders.—Reuters
