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Iraqs demonstrate against israel and US { July 15 2006 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/07/15/blasts_kill_16_at_sunni_shiite_mosques/http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/07/15/blasts_kill_16_at_sunni_shiite_mosques/
Blasts kill 16 at Sunni, Shi'ite mosques
Iraq death toll said to exceed 250 in past week
By Kim Gamel, Associated Press | July 15, 2006
BAGHDAD -- Bombs and mortars struck Shi'ite and Sunni mosques in the Baghdad area yesterday, the latest in a week of tit-for-tat sectarian attacks that have killed more than 250 people.
The deadliest explosion came as worshippers left services at a Sunni mosque in northern Baghdad, killing 14 people and wounding five, police said.
The bomb, planted near the door of the mosque, exploded during a four-hour driving ban starting at 11 a.m. Fridays in the capital, aimed at preventing car bombs that have frequently targeted weekly prayers.
Earlier yesterday, five mortar rounds fell near the Shi'ite Imam al-Hussein mosque in Balad Ruz, 45 miles northeast of Baghdad, killing two people and wounding six, provincial police said.
Shi'ite clerics, meanwhile, denounced Israel's attacks on Lebanon during Friday prayers, and hundreds of Iraqis demonstrated to show solidarity with the Lebanese. Israel began its assault after guerrillas from the Shi'ite group Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a raid inside Israel.
Thousands of Iraqis also demonstrated in the Shi'ite district of Sadr City in Baghdad and the southeastern cities of Kut and Amarah, praising the leader of Hezbollah and denouncing Israel and the United States. Some protesters said they were ready to fight the Israelis.
``No, no to Israel! No, no to America!" demonstrators chanted in Sadr City.
``Let everyone understand that we will not stand idle," read one of the banners carried by the demonstrators. ``Iraq and Lebanon are calling. Enough silence, Arabs," read another.
Besides the fatalities in the mosque attacks, police yesterday reported 34 other violent deaths, including 12 Shi'ites found buried in a common grave in Tal Afar.
The discovery came after Iraqi soldiers arrested six terror suspects in the town, 93 miles east of the Syrian border and 260 miles northwest of Baghdad.
One suspect confessed to killing the 12 civilians and told authorities where they were buried, a military official said, and relatives identified the victims as Shi'ites.
In March, President Bush praised American efforts to stabilize Tal Afar, saying he had ``confidence in our strategy" and that success in the city ``gives reason for hope for a free Iraq."
Also yesterday, Iraq's national wrestling team pulled out of a tournament in the United Arab Emirates after its coach was killed in an attack in Baghdad, sports reporter Sagban al-Rubaie said, acting as a spokesman for the team.
The Sunni coach, Mohammed Karim Abid Sahib, was seized with one of his wrestlers as they left the sports center to buy some sweets in the northern neighborhood of Kazamiyah, where the team was preparing for the tournament.
He was shot to death while trying to escape; the wrestler got away, according to police and wrestling officials.
In other violence yesterday:
Gunmen attacked an Iraqi Army checkpoint on a highway near Kirkuk, in northern Iraq, killing 11 soldiers and wounding three.
A taxi driver was killed in a drive-by shooting in southern Baghdad.
Gunmen in southeastern Baghdad opened fire on a minivan carrying passengers to the Shi'ite holy city of Karbala, killing five, including a woman and a child.
© Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company
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