Talabani urges political powers to unify discourse against terrorism

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on Friday condemned the recent suicide blats that jolted the capital Baghdad and the predominantly Sunni province of al-Anbar, urging political powers to unify ranks and political discourse in the face of terrorism, according to a presidential press release. “Innocent Iraq blood was shed in the houses of God and on the streets of Iraq after terrorist groups targeted mosques in Baghdad and Ramadi, not even thinking twice about the sacred day of Friday,” read the release as received by IraqiNews.com news agency. Earlier on Friday, a security source said casualties from the five blasts that ripped through Baghdad today rose to 54 deaths and 180 others wounded. “The blasts that targeted Shiite mosques left 54 people killed and 180 others wounded. The death toll in the eastern Baghdad district of Sadr City alone reached 39 while the wounded 56,” the source told IraqiNews.com. “Blasts in al-Amin area left eight killed and 23 wounded,” the source added. Baghdad had been hit by a series of attacks with car bombs and improvised explosive devices on Friday. The bombing attacks targeted four Shiite mosques and an outdoor souk (market) in different areas of the violence-swept capital city. The blasts come only four days after Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) network top leaders Abu Ayub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi as well as other key members of the armed group were killed in a security operation in the area of al-Tharthar, in the predominantly Sunni province of al-Anbar. They also came in the heels of hectic security activity targeting AQI leaders in the provinces of Baghdad, Ninewa, Diala, al-Anbar and Kirkuk. The operations resulted in capturing or killing a number of AQI operatives, including Ahmed al-Obaidi, alias Abu Suhayb, the group’s military commander for the provinces of Ninewa, Salah al-Din and Kirkuk, who was killed in Mosul. Also killed in those operations were AQI members Youssef Mohammed Ali, who was in charge of preparing car bombs and explosive belts, and Louay Mohammed Nour. Security forces in Anbar also managed to capture Mahmoud Soliman, an AQI military commander, inside a house in the area of al-Bu Farraj, northern Ramadi, the capital city of Anbar, and another man known as the mufti for the so-called al-Mujahedin Army in Anbar. On April 11, Iraqi forces captured an AQI leader in Hittin neighborhood in Baghdad, who is believed to be responsible for several operations, including the assassination of Iraqi member of parliament Harith al-Obaidi and the targeting of embassies, ministries and hotels in Baghdad. The arrested man is called Manaf Abdulrehim al-Rawi, alias Falah Abu Hayder, who joined al-Qaeda Organization in 2003 and was appointed by Abu Omar al-Baghdadi as Ruler of Baghdad in 2008. Iraqi security forces obtained information from Rawi that helped track down other leaders of al-Qaeda in Iraq. AmR (I) 2