Region | Iraq
Sunnis want US apology for raid that killed an Iraqi
Iraq's largest Sunni party said on Saturday it has suspended official contacts with American military personnel and civilians after the killing of a man near Fallujah.
- AP
- Published: 21:01 October 26, 2008
Baghdad: Iraq's largest Sunni party said on Saturday it has suspended official contacts with American military personnel and civilians after the killing of a man near Fallujah.
The Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) accused the raid of having a "hidden political motive" in an indication of rising tensions in Anbar province ahead of provincial elections, due to be held by the end of January.
The US military said US-backed Iraqi soldiers had arrested a wanted insurgent leader suspected of training roadside bomb cells in an operation on Friday that resulted in the death of an armed man who opened fire on the troops.
The IIP alleged that a senior member of the party was killed in his bed and five others were arrested during the raid in the Halabsa area on the outskirts of the former insurgent stronghold.
It accused the troops of targeting party members after its success in forging tribal alliances with other political blocs. "The hidden political motive behind this incident is clear," the party said in a statement posted on its website.
The party said it "has decided to suspend all official contacts with the Americans, both military and civilians, until the party receives a reasonable explanation about what happened, along with an official apology". It also demanded assurance those responsible would be punished, compensation for the victims and the release of the five detainees.
Supporters of the IIP rallied in Fallujah to protest the raid. The IIP has been locked in a bitter rivalry with Sunni tribal leaders who joined forces with the US against Al Qaida in Iraq.
Also Saturday, about 300 Shiites rallied in the southern city of Basra against a US-Iraqi security pact currently under negotiation.
The demonstrators were members of a local Muslim charity linked to Iraq's largest Shiite political party, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, or SIIC.
The IIP alleged that a senior member of the party was killed in his bed and five others were arrested during the raid.
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