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War, War, War See other War, War, War Articles Title: 11 relatives of Iraqi journalist killed 11 Relatives of Pro-Baath Iraqi Journalist Killed in Baghdad SINAN SALAHEDDIN Nov 26, 2007 11:23 EST Masked gunmen stormed the family home of a pro-Baath journalist and killed 11 of his relatives, colleagues said Monday, as Shiite legislators denounced a proposal to ease curbs on former members of Saddam Hussein's ruling party, dimming hopes for the U.S.-backed measure aimed at national reconciliation. Dhia al-Kawaz, editor of the Jordan-based Asawat al-Iraq news agency, was in Jordan when his sisters, their husbands and children were reportedly killed in Baghdad. According to the news agency's Web site, witnesses said more than five masked gunmen broke into the home and opened fire, then planted a bomb inside. "Sectarian militias killed 11 family members of Dhia al-Kawaz," the agency's statement said, apparently referring to Shiite death squads that frequently target minority Sunnis and their supporters. Mohammed Salman, a colleague of al-Kawaz in the Jordanian capital of Amman, confirmed the attack in the northern neighborhood of Shaab, a Shiite militia stronghold. Al-Kawaz, his wife and children live elsewhere. Another colleague, who refused to be named because he feared reprisal, said al-Kawaz has received threats for his stance against the U.S. occupation and sectarian strife in Iraq. That colleague said an SUV without license plates stopped at the gate of the house and threw two bombs on Sunday, killing al-Kawaz' two sisters, their husbands and seven children aged 5 to 10 while they were eating breakfast. Al-Kawaz, who declined to comment Monday, has rejected the U.S. occupation and accused majority-Shiite Iran of seeking to dominate the Iraqi government. Officials with the Interior Ministry, which oversees Iraqi police, said they had no information about the attack, and local police refused to comment. The attack, which could not be independently confirmed, is the latest to raise concerns about the sustainability of a recent lull in violence in the capital. Reporters Without Borders condemned the killings and called for a government investigation, saying Iraqi police at a nearby checkpoint failed to intervene. "The impunity reigning in Baghdad for the past five years encourages attacks on journalists and their families," the Paris-based media advocacy group said. "It is even more disturbing when security forces see what is happening and yet take no action." Reporters Without Borders said al-Kawaz had recently been threatened by the Badr Brigades, the militant arm of Iraq's largest Shiite party the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council. The debate over rehabilitating former members of Saddam's ruling Baath Party has been a major obstacle to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's push to stem support for the insurgency by bringing minority Sunnis into the political process. A parliamentary session on Sunday adjourned in turmoil after lawmakers loyal to anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr pounded their fists on their tables in protest. "There are Baathists who committed crimes and atrocities against the Iraqi people and those must be tried," Bahaa al-Araji, a lawmaker from al-Sadr's 30-member bloc, said Monday at a news conference. He complained that the legislation failed to distinguish between Baath members who were forced to join and those who willingly participated in suppression of majority Shiites. "We have to first compensate the families of those who were killed and imprisoned by those Baathists and then discuss the law," he said. Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish lawmaker, said parliament would discuss the draft again on Wednesday. "The country is in dire need of national reconciliation. ... Iraqis should abandon revenge and adopt forgiveness," he said. Enacting and implementing legislation on so-called de-Baathification is one of 18 so-called benchmark issues the U.S. has set as measures for progress. The Sadrists also are angry about recent raids against followers, primarily in southern Iraq where rival militias have been battling, raising fears that an order by the radical cleric to his Mahdi Army militia to stand down won't hold. In Baghdad, thousands of his supporters marched Monday to demonstrate their allegiance, chanting "We are ready to sacrifice ourselves for Muqtada and his father." U.S. troops targeting al-Qaida in Iraq north of Baghdad detained 10 suspects, including some responsible for planning car bombings, the U.S. military said. During one of the raids in the Tigris River valley, locals reported that al-Qaida was using a school as a meeting place and safe house, the military said. It gave no specific locations, but said U.S. troops briefly entered the school. In violence Monday, at least two people — a civilian and a policeman — were killed in separate drive-by shootings by gunmen on motorcycles in the predominantly Shiite city of Kut, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, police said. Iraqi soldiers also thwarted terrorism suspects disguised as a bride and groom trying to pass through a checkpoint along with their "wedding procession" north of the Iraqi capital, the Iraqi Defense Ministry said Monday. The procession Sunday near Taji, about 12 miles north of Baghdad, raised suspicion because most of those celebrating were men, an official in the ministry told The Associated Press. Soldiers searched the car carrying the purported bride and groom and discovered the "couple" were two wanted men: Haider al-Bahadili and Abbas Latif. Two other suspects were detained along with them, according to the Defense Ministry. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to ministry orders, said the investigation of the suspects was ongoing. He declined to release further information. ___ Associated Press writers Sameer N. Yacoub in Baghdad and Shafika Mattar in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report.
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