Prominent Sunni cleric gunned down in Baghdad

Wed May 5, 2010 12:55pm BST

* Colleagues blame lack of government protection

* Killing occurs at tense time after inconclusive election



BAGHDAD, May 5 (Reuters) - Gunmen in a speeding car riddled a prominent Sunni cleric and his guards with bullets on Wednesday, killing the imam and three other people in western Baghdad, a source in the Iraqi Interior Ministry said.

Abdul-Jalil al-Fehdawi, deputy head of the Council of Iraqi Scholars, an independent body that issues religious instructions, or fatwas, was leaving his home in the Sunni district of Amiriya when he was attacked, the source said.

Two of his guards and a relative were also killed in the incident, police added.

Colleagues accused the government of failing to protect him at a time of rising sectarian tensions resulting from an inconclusive election in March.

A Sunni-backed alliance headed by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi placed first in the March 7 vote, two seats ahead of the State of Law coalition of incumbent Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

But neither won the majority needed to form a government and Maliki's allies and the country's other main Shi'ite bloc are manoeuvring to form an alliance that could sideline Allawi and anger minority Sunnis who backed him.

"I blame the deteriorated security situation at a time (when) the politicians are busy worrying about their own problems and leaving the country to burn," said another official of the council, Abdul-Sattar Abdul Jabbar.

"The government does not provide protection for us and prevents us from protecting ourselves. I do not carry a personal weapon even though I am a target."

Jabbar said the guards who were killed were not armed because they were not allowed to carry weapons.

He did not say who might have wanted to kill Fehdawi.

The Council of Iraqi Scholars is scorned by Sunni extremist organisations like al Qaeda for its moderate views on Islam, but is also regarded with suspicion by militant Shi'ite groups.

Overall violence has dropped in Iraq in the past couple of years but bombings and killings remain a daily occurrence.

A series of major attacks since the election, including car bombs in Shi'ite areas of Baghdad that killed dozens, have raised concerns about the country's fragile security as it struggles to end years of sectarian violence and rebuild. (Reporting by Aseel Kami; Editing by Michael Christie and Mark Heinrich)




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