January 02, 2008	Wednesday	Zilhaj 22, 1428

BAGHDAD, Jan 1: A suicide bomber detonated a vest loaded with explosives at a Shia funeral in eastern Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 32 people and wounding 34 others, police and ambulance officials said.

The explosion took place in Baghdad’s eastern Zayouna neighborhood, a mixed Shia and Sunni district, the officials said on customary condition of anonymity.

The funeral was being held for Nabil Hussein Jassim, a retired army officer who had been killed in a car bombing in downtown Baghdad’s Tayaran Square on Friday. That blast left at least 14 people dead. In another development, the government sent to the parliament speaker a draft bill on Tuesday for an amnesty for some detainees being held in Iraqi prisons, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said.

The bill excludes those held in US custody and those imprisoned for a variety of crimes ranging from terrorism, kidnapping and rape to antiquities smuggling, adultery and homosexuality. It also excludes senior figures of the former Baath regime.

If passed in its current form, the bill could see some 5,000 prisoners released, al-Dabbagh said. The Iraqi government has about 20,000 people in custody, while the US military holds about 25,000.

Sunni parliamentarians have criticised 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 Iraq’s gridlocked parliament will actually delay prisoner releases.

In a village north of Baghdad, the bodies of a Sunni policeman and four of his family members were found just hours after they were abducted from their home by unknown gunmen, authorities said. The assault occurred in Diyala province, where Al Qaeda in Iraq retains a presence and violence has stubbornly remained, despite drops elsewhere. Extremists have long targeted Iraqi policeman and Al Qaeda in Iraq has repeatedly said it will aggressively target any Iraqis who join the security forces.

Tuesday’s attack happened on the northern outskirts of Jalula, a city mixed between Shias and Sunnis 125 kilometres northeast of Baghdad.

An unknown number of gunmen attacked the policeman’s home at dawn. Authorities found his body and that of his father, two brothers and a cousin about two hours later, a local policeman said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Hours later in the same province, a Shia man and his 16-year-old son were killed in a drive-by shooting, police said. The two were standing outside their home in Tahwelah, about 30 kilometres east of Baqouba.—AP