Diala police shoot down gunman, arrest 3

DIALA / IraqiNews.com: Policemen on Friday clashed with four gunmen suspected of killing a candidate in Mandili district, eastern Baaquba, shooting down one of them and arresting three others, a Diala security source said. “Police forces clashed with four gunmen in a house in the village of Muhammad Malih, south of Mandili district, (55 km) north of Baaquba, arresting three of them and killing a fourth who declined to surrender,” the source told IraqiNews.com news agency. An official security source in Diala told IraqiNews.com earlier on Friday that an armed group suspected of affiliation to al-Qaeda network had intercepted during a late hour of Thursday (Jan. 29) Abbas Farhan, a candidate from the Reform & Development bloc, in a village in Mandili, where he was campaigning, and opened fire at him, killing him instantly along with his brother and cousin who were escorting him. Baaquba, the capital city of Diala province, lies 57 km northeast of Baghdad. Earlier on Friday (Jan. 30), the UN special envoy for Iraq Staffan de Mistura condemned on Friday the assassination of three candidates running in the local council elections in the provinces of Baghdad, Ninewa and Diala on Thursday. Thursday (Jan. 29) has witnessed the assassination of three candidates in Ninewa, Diala and Baghdad. In addition to Farhan, gunmen killed Hazem Sallam Ahmed, a candidate for the Iraqi Unity bloc, which is led by Ahmed al-Nada. Omar Farouq al-Aani, a candidate from the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP), was killed while on his way back home from a campaigning rally in the area of al-Amiriya, western Baghdad. AmR (S) 1