Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Sunni politicians - we will defend ourselves
Politics
The death of the brother of Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, the country's most prominent Sunni Arab politician, alarmed Sunnis and fueled their demands that the government crack down on Shiite militias. Critics of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki accuse the Shiite leader of hesitating on reining in the militias because many of them, like the Mahdi Army, belong to parties in his government.
"The clock is starting to strike after today's events," Khalaf al-Alayan, a Sunni parliament member told The Associated Press. "They (Shiite militias) consider Sunnis terrorists who must be killed. If the zero hour is coming, we will take the decisions needed to defend ourselves." "We say to the government, you still did not disarm the militias," Salim Abdullah Tawfiq, a Sunni politician, said in a statement read in parliament. "And here is what it has led to." Al-Maliki condemned Monday's killing as an "ugly, terrorist crime."
Al-Hashimi's brother, Lt. Gen. Amir al-Hashimi, a Defense Ministry adviser, was slain when gunmen wearing military uniforms broke into his north Baghdad home, al-Moussawi said. The gunmen also abducted six of the general's guards and a neighbour, who is also an official in Tariq al-Hashimi's Iraqi Islamic Party, according to party officials.
The vice president already has lost two other siblings in violence: His sister and another brother were killed within two weeks of each other in April, both in shootings in the Iraqi capital. Two militiamen were arrested in the slaying of al-Hashimi's sister, but the government did not say to which militia they belonged. Al-Hashimi has one other brother, who is believed to be living abroad.
"The clock is starting to strike after today's events," Khalaf al-Alayan, a Sunni parliament member told The Associated Press. "They (Shiite militias) consider Sunnis terrorists who must be killed. If the zero hour is coming, we will take the decisions needed to defend ourselves." "We say to the government, you still did not disarm the militias," Salim Abdullah Tawfiq, a Sunni politician, said in a statement read in parliament. "And here is what it has led to." Al-Maliki condemned Monday's killing as an "ugly, terrorist crime."
Al-Hashimi's brother, Lt. Gen. Amir al-Hashimi, a Defense Ministry adviser, was slain when gunmen wearing military uniforms broke into his north Baghdad home, al-Moussawi said. The gunmen also abducted six of the general's guards and a neighbour, who is also an official in Tariq al-Hashimi's Iraqi Islamic Party, according to party officials.
The vice president already has lost two other siblings in violence: His sister and another brother were killed within two weeks of each other in April, both in shootings in the Iraqi capital. Two militiamen were arrested in the slaying of al-Hashimi's sister, but the government did not say to which militia they belonged. Al-Hashimi has one other brother, who is believed to be living abroad.
