Iraq toll rises to 29; PM faces fresh quit call

BAGHDAD: The toll from a spate of attacks across Iraq on Thursday rose
to 29 dead and 120 wounded, officials said on Friday, amid weeks of
anti-government protests and a political crisis engulfing the country.

The
attacks marked the third consecutive day of violence that claimed 88
lives overall, including that of a Sunni Iraqi MP killed by a suicide
bomber and 33 others who died in twin car bombs in an ethnically mixed
northern city.

Iraq is gripped by a long-running political
dispute, with Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki facing protests that are
hardening opposition against his rule and calls from many of his
erstwhile government partners for his ouster.

Thousands rallied
in Sunni-majority areas of Iraq on Friday, calling for the ouster of
Maliki in the latest of ongoing protests that have deepened a political
crisis.

Demonstrators in Baghdad and other cities also demanded
the reform of anti-terror laws they say are targeted at the Sunni
community, as well as the release of prisoners they claim are being
wrongfully held. Friday’s protests came after authorities released more
than 400 prisoners, with a top minister publicly apologising for
detaining some without charge for prolonged periods, and following
visits to two of the biggest protest sites by ministers. In the capital,
protesters rallied at Sunni mosques after Friday prayers in which
preachers railed against the government, while demonstrators in Samarra
and Mosul insisted they would continue to rally and called for Maliki’s
ouster.

“Do not give space to those who...want to take away your
rights, even though it is their duty to protect them,” said Adnan Al
Naimi, an imam at the Najib Basha mosque in north Baghdad where around
400 demonstrators congregated.

The bloodiest of Thursday’s blasts
took place in Dujail, 60 kilometres north of Baghdad, where a car bomb
outside a Shiite mosque killed 11 people and wounded 72, provincial
health chief Raad Al Juburi said.

A car bomb killed seven people
and wounded 18 near a football stadium on the outskirts of the
predominantly Shiite city of Hilla, south of the capital, officials
said.

Attacks also struck Baghdad, Hawija, Karbala, Tuz Khurmatu and Mosul, leaving 11 people dead and 30 others wounded overall.

The violence came a day after 49 people were killed in attacks in Baghdad and north of the capital.

On Tuesday, a suicide attacker killed a Sunni Iraqi MP, Ayfan Al Essawi, west of Baghdad.

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