30 May 2011
BAGHDAD: A roadside bomb planted outside a suburban liquor shop west of Baghdad killed an Iraqi soldier and a firefighter Sunday as security forces tried to extinguish a blaze from an explosion minutes earlier.
In the Sunni-dominated Baghdad suburb of Abu Ghraib, emergency crew rushed to the scene of a blast outside the closed liquor store at about 6 a.m. local time, only to be hit by a second bomb just minutes later. Such follow-up attacks are one hallmark of Al-Qaeda.
Police officials say the second bomb instantly killed one soldier and the firefighter died later at a hospital. They say five soldiers and five firefighters also were wounded. A hospital medic confirmed the casualties.A few hours later, in the northern city of Mosul, an attack wounded a retired general and former candidate for defense minister in what police called the most recent assassination attempt on a prominent Iraqi.
Technology professor Khalid Mitaab al-Obeidi was driving to his office on the campus of the citys university when he hit a roadside bomb. Obeidi was wounded in the face and leg, police said. His nephew, who serves as his bodyguard, also suffered minor injuries.
All police and medical officials spoke on condition of anonymity.
Dozens of government and political officials have been targeted for assassination in recent months as extremists exploit Iraqs instability. Though violence has dropped dramatically across the country since the height of tit-for-tat sectarian killings a few years ago, deadly attacks still occur daily.
Obeidi, a Sunni, was a brigadier general and pilot in Iraqs army during Saddam Husseins regime. He recently withdrew as a contender for the vacant post as Iraqs defense minister after being nominated by the secular but Sunni-backed Iraqiya political coalition, said Mosul lawmaker Abdul-Rahim al-Shammari.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has been struggling to fill the top posts at the defense and interior ministries, but political bickering over candidates among political rivals has delayed the nomination in the six months since the new government was seated.
In turn, the delay has held up key negotiations between Baghdad and Washington over whether thousands of U.S. troops will remain in Iraq past a year-end deadline.
Representatives for each of Iraqs main parties will meet Monday in a new attempt to break the impasse.
Copyright The Daily Star 2011.
