.Bomber Kills 16 at Iraqi Reconciliation Banquet
BAGHDAD, Sept. 24 — A suicide bomber blew himself up on Monday at a banquet intended to be a reconciliation feast between provincial officials and former Sunni insurgents in Diyala Province, killing 16 people and wounding at least 28.
Among the wounded were the provincial governor, the regional police chief and the local military commander, local police officials said. At least one former insurgent leader was killed, they said.
The gathering was of the type that is a cornerstone of American plans to reconcile former insurgents with the Iraqi government and enlist their help in fighting Sunni extremist groups. The strategy has produced security gains in Sunni areas in western Iraq, and the military is trying to repeat that success in places like Diyala, a mixed area of Sunnis and Shiites north of Baghdad.
The American military confirmed that American officers had attended the meeting, held at a Shiite mosque in an outlying district of Baquba, the provincial capital. It said soldiers had been attacked by a suicide bomber, but said nothing about any wounded or dead among the Americans.
“There are an unknown number of casualties, and the incident remains under investigation,” the military statement said.
The bombing was the second this month aimed at leaders of the so-called Sunni awakening. On Sept. 13, a suicide bomber killed Abdul Sattar Buzaigh al-Rishawi, known as Abu Risha, the Sunni tribal leader who unified several tribes to fight Sunni extremists in Anbar Province, in western Iraq. He died 10 days after meeting with President Bush at a military base in Anbar.
The reconciliation banquet on Monday was held to break the daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan. The suicide bomber detonated himself at the entrance to the mosque, where he was stopped by guards as the group was having tea in the yard.
“I saw a young man in his 30s running toward the front gate of the mosque,” a police officer said in a telephone interview. “He wanted to reach the governor, but the guards stopped him. He immediately exploded himself.”
Another police officer at the site said: “The explosion was huge. It says that Al Qaeda is still alive in Baquba.” He was referring to Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, a homegrown jihadist group that American intelligence agencies believe is foreign-led.
Among the dead was Hajji Najim, a former leader of the 1920s Revolutionary Brigade, an insurgent group named after an uprising in that era against the British occupation of Iraq. It is one of the Sunni extremist groups that had battled American forces but appear to have stopped.
Diyala Province is strategically important for the United States because it is a transit point for Sunni extremists moving from predominantly Sunni regions in northwestern Iraq into Baghdad. Violence has surged again in the area after a brief hiatus during an American offensive in July.
Also on Monday, Iran sealed border crossings into the Kurdish region of northern Iraq to protest the arrest of an Iranian man on suspicion of smuggling powerful roadside bombs.
On Thursday the American military had arrested the man, Agai Mahummdi Firhadi, in northern Iraq, saying he was suspected of smuggling weapons into Iraq for use against American troops. The United States says Mr. Firhadi is an officer in Iran’s elite Quds Force.
Iraq’s president, Jalal Talabani, expressed anger at Mr. Firhadi’s arrest, saying he was an Iranian diplomat.
The border closure was the latest sign of tensions being played out between Iran and the United States in the mountainous regions of northern Iraq. If it persists, it could damage Iraqi Kurdistan’s economy, officials said. By evening, scores of trucks were backed up along both sides of the border; officials in the Kurdish region said 300 trucks crossed the border daily.
Hasan Baqi, the head of the chamber of commerce in Sulaimaniya in the Kurdish zone, estimated that 30,000 people in the Kurdish areas relied on trade with Iran for jobs.
Iran is also angered that the Kurds tacitly allow bases in their territory for an Iranian Kurdish separatist movement known as the Pejak, which Tehran says has staged incursions into Iran. Iranian officials say it is supported by the United States; the Pentagon has denied supporting the group.
The American military also said Monday that soldiers attacked an insurgent cell in eastern Baghdad that it said was backed by Iran. One person was killed, and four were wounded. Militants placed roadside bombs along the soldiers’ exit route, the military said, adding that one bomb was a shaped charge of the type the United States has accused Iranian agents of smuggling into Iraq. It was impossible to verify the military’s claim.
NYT
Among the wounded were the provincial governor, the regional police chief and the local military commander, local police officials said. At least one former insurgent leader was killed, they said.
The gathering was of the type that is a cornerstone of American plans to reconcile former insurgents with the Iraqi government and enlist their help in fighting Sunni extremist groups. The strategy has produced security gains in Sunni areas in western Iraq, and the military is trying to repeat that success in places like Diyala, a mixed area of Sunnis and Shiites north of Baghdad.
The American military confirmed that American officers had attended the meeting, held at a Shiite mosque in an outlying district of Baquba, the provincial capital. It said soldiers had been attacked by a suicide bomber, but said nothing about any wounded or dead among the Americans.
“There are an unknown number of casualties, and the incident remains under investigation,” the military statement said.
The bombing was the second this month aimed at leaders of the so-called Sunni awakening. On Sept. 13, a suicide bomber killed Abdul Sattar Buzaigh al-Rishawi, known as Abu Risha, the Sunni tribal leader who unified several tribes to fight Sunni extremists in Anbar Province, in western Iraq. He died 10 days after meeting with President Bush at a military base in Anbar.
The reconciliation banquet on Monday was held to break the daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan. The suicide bomber detonated himself at the entrance to the mosque, where he was stopped by guards as the group was having tea in the yard.
“I saw a young man in his 30s running toward the front gate of the mosque,” a police officer said in a telephone interview. “He wanted to reach the governor, but the guards stopped him. He immediately exploded himself.”
Another police officer at the site said: “The explosion was huge. It says that Al Qaeda is still alive in Baquba.” He was referring to Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, a homegrown jihadist group that American intelligence agencies believe is foreign-led.
Among the dead was Hajji Najim, a former leader of the 1920s Revolutionary Brigade, an insurgent group named after an uprising in that era against the British occupation of Iraq. It is one of the Sunni extremist groups that had battled American forces but appear to have stopped.
Diyala Province is strategically important for the United States because it is a transit point for Sunni extremists moving from predominantly Sunni regions in northwestern Iraq into Baghdad. Violence has surged again in the area after a brief hiatus during an American offensive in July.
Also on Monday, Iran sealed border crossings into the Kurdish region of northern Iraq to protest the arrest of an Iranian man on suspicion of smuggling powerful roadside bombs.
On Thursday the American military had arrested the man, Agai Mahummdi Firhadi, in northern Iraq, saying he was suspected of smuggling weapons into Iraq for use against American troops. The United States says Mr. Firhadi is an officer in Iran’s elite Quds Force.
Iraq’s president, Jalal Talabani, expressed anger at Mr. Firhadi’s arrest, saying he was an Iranian diplomat.
The border closure was the latest sign of tensions being played out between Iran and the United States in the mountainous regions of northern Iraq. If it persists, it could damage Iraqi Kurdistan’s economy, officials said. By evening, scores of trucks were backed up along both sides of the border; officials in the Kurdish region said 300 trucks crossed the border daily.
Hasan Baqi, the head of the chamber of commerce in Sulaimaniya in the Kurdish zone, estimated that 30,000 people in the Kurdish areas relied on trade with Iran for jobs.
Iran is also angered that the Kurds tacitly allow bases in their territory for an Iranian Kurdish separatist movement known as the Pejak, which Tehran says has staged incursions into Iran. Iranian officials say it is supported by the United States; the Pentagon has denied supporting the group.
The American military also said Monday that soldiers attacked an insurgent cell in eastern Baghdad that it said was backed by Iran. One person was killed, and four were wounded. Militants placed roadside bombs along the soldiers’ exit route, the military said, adding that one bomb was a shaped charge of the type the United States has accused Iranian agents of smuggling into Iraq. It was impossible to verify the military’s claim.
NYT
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