posted on Nov, 23 2004 @ 04:04 AM
A Sunni cleric has been assassinated in a town north of Baghdad, the second in as many days. Sheik Ghalib Ali al-Zuhairi had been a vocal opponent of
the nationwide elections to be held on January 30th. Both clerics were members of The Association of Muslim Scholars. The group has promised to
boycott the elections and have been critical of the U.S. attack on Fallujah.
[url=http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=736&e=2&u=/ap/20041123/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_cleric_assassinated]story.news.yahoo.com[/ur
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BAQOUBA, Iraq - Masked gunmen on Tuesday assassinated a Sunni cleric north of Baghdad, police said � the second such killing in as many days.
Sheik Ghalib Ali al-Zuhairi was a member of the Association of Muslim Scholars, an influential Sunni clerics group that has spoken out against
nationwide elections to be held Jan. 30.
Al-Zuhairi was shot as he was leaving Thiyaba Mosque in the town of Muqdadiyah after dawn prayers, said Col. Raisan Hussein. He was taken to Muqdadiya
Hospital where he later died, Hussein said. Muqdadiyah is about 60 miles north of Baghdad.
A day earlier, unknown gunmen assassinated another prominent Sunni cleric in the northern city of Mosul � Sheik Faidh Mohamed Amin al-Faidhi, who was
the brother of the group's spokesman.
It was unclear whether there was any connection between the two murders.
Please visit the link provided for the complete story.
The article states that it is unclear if the assassinations are connected, but how could they be not? Both were very vocal about boycotting the
elections. It is possible that some decade old vendetta was avenged, but this close to elections? If more opposition Sunni�s begin disappearing or are
assassinated, it may point to an Iraqi attempt to silence opposition, or U.S. Special forces attempting to perform and intervention.