Gunmen Said to Kill Three Sunnis in Iraq

[Eugene]

Gunmen Said to Kill Three Sunnis in Iraq

Friday August 19, 2005 3:16 PM

AP Photo BAG101

MOSUL, Iraq (AP) - Gunmen seized three members of Iraq's largest Sunni
Muslim party Friday and shot them to death hours later in front of a
mosque, a party official and witnesses said.

The three were kidnapped in the city's southern neighborhood of New
Mosul, said Nouredine al-Hayali of the Iraqi Islamic Party. They were
later shot dead in Mosul's northern neighborhood of Nour.

Witnesses said masked gunmen blocked a major road in front of Dhi
al-Nourein Mosque, then brought the three out of cars. They forced them
to stand against a wall, sprayed them with gunfire and fled. The bodies
were left behind.

The Iraqi Islamic Party has been urging Sunni Muslims in recent weeks
to register to vote in an October referendum on the new constitution
and to take part in general elections planned for Dec. 15. Many Sunni
Muslims boycotted the Jan. 30 elections following threats by
insurgents and calls by clerics not to participate in the U.S.-backed
political process.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5220788,00.html