Iraq PM steps up hunt for killers of Sabean
jewellers
BAGHDAD, April 22, 2009 (AFP) - Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on
Wednesday ordered the hunt to be stepped up for the gunmen behind
the deadly robberies of two jewellery shops run by Iraq's tiny
Sabean minority.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri
al-Maliki (Photo: AFP/Ahmad al-Rubaye)
The prime minister has "ordered greater efforts to be made to
arrest the criminals behind the attack on civilians that led to the
deaths of three Sabean goldsmiths," Maliki's office said.
The attacks in which a total of seven people were killed took
place on Sunday in western Baghdad.
Security forces have arrested four of those behind the
robberies, Major General Qassim Atta, the Baghdad security
spokesman, told AFP, adding that others suspects were on the
run.
The Sabeans, who specialise as goldsmiths, are a dwindling
community in Iraq. Their numbers have fallen from 35,000 before the
2003 US-led invasion to just 7,000-8,000, according to the sect's
leader, Sheikh Sattar Jabbar al-Hulu.
Also known as Mandaeans, the Sabeans traditionally speak a
variety of Aramaic, the language of Christ. They call Adam their
prophet and revere John the Baptist.
They trace their roots to pre-Christian times.