Iraqi Candidate Killed on Videotape; Other Attacks Leave a Marine and Several Iraqis DeadBy EDWARD WONG Published: January 28, 2005
AGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 27 - Insurgents unleashed a string of fierce attacks across central and northern Iraq on Thursday that left nearly a dozen Iraqis and an American marine dead, while the militant group led by the country's most wanted guerrilla posted a video on the Internet showing the fatal shooting of a candidate from the prime minister's slate in Sunday's elections.
The killing of the candidate, Salem Jaafar al-Kanani, was one of the most direct strikes yet against Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's party. Mr. Kanani appears as No. 150 in a list of candidates led by Dr. Allawi, according to a Web site aimed at informing overseas Iraqi voters. Dr. Allawi's slate is expected to perform well on Sunday, when millions of Iraqis are to vote in the country's first multiparty elections in decades. But given the large number of competing slates, it was considered unlikely that Mr. Kanani would have ended up winning one of the new National Assembly's 275 seats.
The video of his killing, with at least three shots to the chest, was posted by the group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian militant who vowed earlier this week to wage all-out war on the process of democracy.
The murder of Mr. Kanani and a spate of attacks on Thursday, which included suicide car bombings in the besieged cities of Samarra and Baquba, appeared intended to sow fear among Iraqis as they decide whether to vote on Sunday.
The marine was killed and four other Americans were wounded in combat in Babil Province, which lies immediately south of the capital, the American military said. American forces have carried out several offensive sweeps through the area in recent months, but to no avail.
In that region, on the main highway running from Baghdad south to Najaf, which is often controlled by insurgents, members of the Iraqi National Guard had set up checkpoints about every three miles on Thursday. Traffic was sparse, and it was clear that Iraqi security forces were trying to clamp down on movement as the elections drew closer. But insurgents managed to set off a roadside bomb near an American convoy in the market town of Mahmudiya, killing at least three Iraqis and injuring seven others, the Associated Press reported, citing a local hospital director.
The military said an American soldier in Tikrit died Thursday of accidental gunshot injuries.
The videotape of the killing of Mr. Kanani began with several minutes showing his identification cards, including one from the Titan Systems Corporation, a company that provides interpreters to the American military. Another card showed his membership in the Iraqi National Accord, Dr. Allawi's party.
Mr. Kanani then spoke to the camera. "I advise all young men not to back the enemy occupiers and ask them to serve the people of their homeland," he said. "I was captured by the mujahedeen. They treated me very well."
The video then showed Mr. Kanani lying face-up on a floor as an insurgent fired three bullets into his chest.
In the other violence on Thursday, a suicide car bomb in Samarra exploded near an Iraqi Army patrol, killing an Iraqi soldier and two civilians, Reuters reported, citing an American officer. Doctors at a local hospital said four Iraqi soldiers and two civilians were wounded.
Samarra has been the site of some of the toughest fighting in Salahuddin Province, a Sunni-dominated area that served as a strong base of support for Saddam Hussein. The First Infantry Division swept through the city last fall, only to have insurgents regroup weeks later and resume their attacks. Of all the cities in the embattled province, Samarra is expected to be one of the biggest trouble spots heading into the elections.
In Baquba, 30 miles northeast of Baghdad and also under the watch of the First Infantry Division, a suicide car bomb exploded near the governor's office in the city center, killing a captain in the Iraqi National Guard and wounding four others, said Col. Adnan Abdul-Rahman, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry.
Insurgents also killed a police officer from the Hamadini tribe in a drive-by shooting west of the northern city of Mosul, in the Ash Shifa area, police officials said. In Mosul, a city of up to three million, insurgents have frightened many of the newly trained Iraqi policemen into abandoning their jobs.
A bomb went off in the Tikrit area on Thursday, Colonel Abdul-Rahman said. The Associated Press reported that the explosion killed one Iraqi bystander and narrowly missed an American military convoy.
The A.P. also reported that an Iraqi national guardsman was killed in Ramadi when insurgents attacked American and Iraqi forces guarding a school to be used as a polling center. Marines in Ramadi have suffered some of the highest casualty rates of the war, with guerrillas regularly setting off roadside bombs in the town center and ambushing American convoys on the highway.
Khalid al-Ansary contributed reporting from Najaf for this article,
AGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 27 - Insurgents unleashed a string of fierce attacks across central and northern Iraq on Thursday that left nearly a dozen Iraqis and an American marine dead, while the militant group led by the country's most wanted guerrilla posted a video on the Internet showing the fatal shooting of a candidate from the prime minister's slate in Sunday's elections.
The killing of the candidate, Salem Jaafar al-Kanani, was one of the most direct strikes yet against Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's party. Mr. Kanani appears as No. 150 in a list of candidates led by Dr. Allawi, according to a Web site aimed at informing overseas Iraqi voters. Dr. Allawi's slate is expected to perform well on Sunday, when millions of Iraqis are to vote in the country's first multiparty elections in decades. But given the large number of competing slates, it was considered unlikely that Mr. Kanani would have ended up winning one of the new National Assembly's 275 seats.
The video of his killing, with at least three shots to the chest, was posted by the group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian militant who vowed earlier this week to wage all-out war on the process of democracy.
The murder of Mr. Kanani and a spate of attacks on Thursday, which included suicide car bombings in the besieged cities of Samarra and Baquba, appeared intended to sow fear among Iraqis as they decide whether to vote on Sunday.
The marine was killed and four other Americans were wounded in combat in Babil Province, which lies immediately south of the capital, the American military said. American forces have carried out several offensive sweeps through the area in recent months, but to no avail.
In that region, on the main highway running from Baghdad south to Najaf, which is often controlled by insurgents, members of the Iraqi National Guard had set up checkpoints about every three miles on Thursday. Traffic was sparse, and it was clear that Iraqi security forces were trying to clamp down on movement as the elections drew closer. But insurgents managed to set off a roadside bomb near an American convoy in the market town of Mahmudiya, killing at least three Iraqis and injuring seven others, the Associated Press reported, citing a local hospital director.
The military said an American soldier in Tikrit died Thursday of accidental gunshot injuries.
The videotape of the killing of Mr. Kanani began with several minutes showing his identification cards, including one from the Titan Systems Corporation, a company that provides interpreters to the American military. Another card showed his membership in the Iraqi National Accord, Dr. Allawi's party.
Mr. Kanani then spoke to the camera. "I advise all young men not to back the enemy occupiers and ask them to serve the people of their homeland," he said. "I was captured by the mujahedeen. They treated me very well."
The video then showed Mr. Kanani lying face-up on a floor as an insurgent fired three bullets into his chest.
In the other violence on Thursday, a suicide car bomb in Samarra exploded near an Iraqi Army patrol, killing an Iraqi soldier and two civilians, Reuters reported, citing an American officer. Doctors at a local hospital said four Iraqi soldiers and two civilians were wounded.
Samarra has been the site of some of the toughest fighting in Salahuddin Province, a Sunni-dominated area that served as a strong base of support for Saddam Hussein. The First Infantry Division swept through the city last fall, only to have insurgents regroup weeks later and resume their attacks. Of all the cities in the embattled province, Samarra is expected to be one of the biggest trouble spots heading into the elections.
In Baquba, 30 miles northeast of Baghdad and also under the watch of the First Infantry Division, a suicide car bomb exploded near the governor's office in the city center, killing a captain in the Iraqi National Guard and wounding four others, said Col. Adnan Abdul-Rahman, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry.
Insurgents also killed a police officer from the Hamadini tribe in a drive-by shooting west of the northern city of Mosul, in the Ash Shifa area, police officials said. In Mosul, a city of up to three million, insurgents have frightened many of the newly trained Iraqi policemen into abandoning their jobs.
A bomb went off in the Tikrit area on Thursday, Colonel Abdul-Rahman said. The Associated Press reported that the explosion killed one Iraqi bystander and narrowly missed an American military convoy.
The A.P. also reported that an Iraqi national guardsman was killed in Ramadi when insurgents attacked American and Iraqi forces guarding a school to be used as a polling center. Marines in Ramadi have suffered some of the highest casualty rates of the war, with guerrillas regularly setting off roadside bombs in the town center and ambushing American convoys on the highway.
Khalid al-Ansary contributed reporting from Najaf for this article,
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