By Ahmed Rasheed and Khalid al-Ansary
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The head of Iraq's biggest Sunni Muslim
parliament bloc was killed at a mosque Friday, officials said, an
assassination which could undermine efforts for sectarian
reconciliation in Iraq.
Recently picked as leader of the Accordance Front, Harith
al-Ubaidi was seen as a moderate able to broker peace among the
bloc's groups and also with Shi'ites, Kurds and others who have
struggled for power since the 2003 U.S. invasion.
An independent lawmaker and member of parliament's human rights
committee, Ubaidi was also seen as a leading defender of the rights
of Iraqi prisoners.
His killing comes as parties hold talks to form alliances ahead
of a parliamentary poll due in January that is seen as a test of
whether Iraq's feuding factions can live in peace after the
sectarian bloodshed triggered by the war.
U.S. combat forces are due to leave Iraqi cities by the end of
this month, and withdraw completely by 2012. Washington hopes
political rapprochement can be reached before the troops
depart.
The leader of Iraq's Shi'ite-led government, Prime Minister Nuri
al-Maliki, ordered an investigation and condemned the killing, as
did other leaders of Iraq's Shi'ite majority.
"This cowardly, repulsive murder is a failed attempt to plant
sectarian strife and to strengthen the presence of the terrorist
groups that have received fatal blows from our security forces," he
said in a statement.
Ubaidi was leaving a mosque in west Baghdad after Friday prayers
when he was killed.
"A man shot him with a pistol then threw a grenade at him inside
the al-Shawaf mosque," said Saleem al-Jubouri, a spokesman for the
Accordance Front.
"It could be al Qaeda behind this, or another armed group," he
added, calling on the government to provide more security.
POLITICAL RAMIFICATIONS
Iraq's police and army have had success curbing violence in the
past year, but deadly bombings and shootings remain common.
Police said six people died in the attack, including the
assailant. They said the assassin, believed to be a teen-ager, shot
Ubaidi twice in the head before opening fire on worshippers and
throwing a grenade. He was then killed by mosque guards.
"Assassinations of political leaders have a huge effect on
national peace, and these acts are meant to stoke renewed sectarian
strife between Sunnis and Shi'ites, and also within feuding
factions among the Sunnis," said Hazim al-Nuaimi, a political
analyst at Baghdad University.
He predicted Ubaidi's death would cause splits within the
Accordance Front, which has more than 30 seats in Iraq's 275 member
parliament. Although small compared to Shi'ite and Kurdish blocs,
the Front did well in this year's local polls.
Hashim al-Taie, a member of the bloc, dismissed predictions of
divisions and said it was likely Abdul-Kareem al-Samarrai, who is
also seen as a moderate, would lead.
"This incident will bring the bloc together ... I don't think it
will have a negative effect on reconciliation because martyrdom
bridges gaps between the blocs," he said.
Sunni Islamist groups such as al Qaeda regard moderate Sunni
politicians as traitors, and have called for them to be killed.