SENIOR SUNNI LEADER ASSASSINATED IN IRAQ

Nov 23, 10:06 AM (ET)

By CHRIS TOMLINSON

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Gunmen wearing Iraqi army uniforms broke into the home of a senior Sunni leader Wednesday and killed him, his three sons and son-in-law, according to his brother and an Interior Ministry official.

Khadim Sarhid al-Hemaiyem, who lived on the outskirts of Baghdad, was the leader of the Sunni Batta tribe and the brother of a candidate in the Dec. 15 election, Maj. Falah al-Mohammedawi said. One of the slain man's brothers said the family has been attacked before.

"A group of gunmen with Iraqi army uniforms and vehicles broke into my brother's house in the Hurriyah area and sprayed them with machine gun fire, killing him along with three sons and his son-in law," said Nima Sarhid Al-Hemaiyem. "His eldest son was assassinated a month ago in the Taji area, northern Baghdad, when unidentified men shot and killed him."

Al-Mohammedawi said government forces were not involved and that the investigation was focused on insurgents.

"Surely, they are outlaw insurgents. As for the military uniform, they can be bought from many shops in Baghdad," he said. "Also, we have several police and army vehicles stolen and they can be used in the raids."

One of al-Hemaiyem's sons was a police officer, the other had recently quit the force.

The Batta tribe is one of Iraq's largest Sunni tribes from the area north of Baghdad. Dozens of people went to al-Hemaiyem's home, where the bodies were laid out and wrapped in blankets before the funeral.

The slaying follows a big push by U.S. officials to encourage Sunni Muslim participation in the election, which will install the first non-transitional government in Iraq since the 2003 invasion.

Some Sunni-led insurgent groups have declared a boycott of the election and have threatened politicians who choose to participate in it.

The Association of Muslim Scholars, a Sunni organization, called the slayings "cowardly." It also condemned the killings of a Sunni cleric and his brother in Khan Bani Saad, a town about 20 miles northeast of Baghdad.

Reading from a statement, association spokesman Abdul Salam al-Kubaisi said Iraqi soldiers had arrested the two men two hours before they were found dead and said he thought the troops were involved.

"We warn the government against continuing with this tyranny," he said.

In the mostly Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City in Baghdad, a group of gunmen blocked the road leading to the Communist Party's branch office Tuesday, just after the party began its election campaign, a statement said.

The unidentified men broke into the party building and killed two activists, it added.

"This cowardly act coincides with our preparations for the upcoming election and it targets the political process," the party said. "The government should bear the responsibility of providing the necessary protection in order to ensure a safe atmosphere for the elections."