Iraq Watch: February 1, 2006

Baghdad Bomber Targets Workers; Sunnis Threaten Uprising

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A bomb targeting day laborers in the capital's eastern New Baghdad district killed at least eight and wounded over 50. The bomb, which police say was hidden in a satchel and placed next to a food stand, detonated amidst a crowd of men looking for work at around 7:00 a.m. this morning near the Sunni al-Samaraei mosque.

Meanwhile, Sunni political leader Tariq al-Hashimi of the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) threatened a "mass civilian uprising" unless a series of demands were not met. Among the demands made by al-Hashimi were an end to "random arrests," the immediate release of all prisoners held at government-run facilities, and the resignation of current Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan Jabr. The IIP's leader stated that, "The government and the occupation forces have a chance to respond to these demands, but they should not take a long time."

Shortly after al-Hashimi's fiery press conference, two Iraqi journalists from the privately-owned Samaria TV station, Marwan Ghazal and Reem Zaeed, were abducted by at least six gunmen in two cars outside of the party's western Baghdad office.

In other violence throughout the war-ravaged country, two Iraqi soldiers were killed in a mortar attack in Tal Afar while authorities discovered three executed bodies in southern Baghdad.

Elsewhere, in yet another attack on Iraq's oil industry, a bomb tore through an oil pipeline near the southern city of Hilla on Wednesday. The blast severed a line linking to a major power station causing thousands in southern Iraq to loose their electricity.