SIIC chief raps govt. for Baghdad, Anbar blasts

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) chief Sayed Ammar al-Hakeem held the Iraqi government responsible for Friday’s deadly blasts in the provinces of Baghdad and al-Anbar, calling for rapid measures to protect citizens. “The Iraqi government has to take whatever necessary rapid measures to should its responsibility of protecting citizens’ lives and security,” Hakeem was quoted in a statement published on the SIIC web site on Saturday. The death toll of five lethal blasts in different areas of Baghdad hit 54 and the wounded 180, an Iraqi police source in Baghdad told IraqiNews.com news agency. “The victims in the eastern Baghdad district of Sadr City alone reached 39 deaths and 56 others wounded, while those in al-Amin district reached eight deaths and 23 others wounded,” the source added. In al-Anbar a security source said gunmen planted several improvised explosive devices (IEDs) near three houses in central al-Khalidiya district, (18 km) east of al-Ramadi, the capital of Anbar, killing nine people, including one Iraqi soldier, and injuring nine others. “The takfirist Saddamist gangs perpetrated yet another crime against our innocent people in a new attempt to hurl Iraq into a whirlpool of violence,” said Hakeem. He warned against attempts to “foment sectarian sedition and fighting and spread anarchy once again”. AmR (P) 2