BBC NEWS Iraq vice-president sister killed
The sister of the newly appointed Iraqi vice-president, Tariq al- Hashemi, has been killed in a drive-by shooting in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. Meysoun al-Hashemi, whose bodyguard was also killed, was gunned down as she was travelling in her car in the Hay al-Ilam part of the city. It follows the killing of one of Mr Hashemi's brothers on 13 April. In a separate incident, at least four people were killed when a blast hit an Italian military convoy in Iraq. The incident occurred in the southern city of Nasiriya. Women's leader Mr Hashemi, Iraq's most prominent Sunni Muslim, was elected on Saturday as part of efforts to form a unity government. According to Iraqi police Ms Hashemi had just left her house in a southern suburb of the capital and was being driven to work when the attack occurred. Gunmen in another car fired a hail of bullets at her car, killing both her and her bodyguard Saad Ali, then sped off, police say. Ms Hashemi was the head of the women's affairs department in the Iraqi Islamic Party, the biggest Sunni Muslim political faction, which is headed by her brother. Another brother, Mahmoud, was also shot dead whilst driving in the city just two weeks ago. Two days after that, the brother of another top Sunni politician, Saleh al-Mutlak, was abducted and killed. Families vulnerable There have been no claims of responsibility for any of these killings, but leaders of the Sunni-based insurgency, including most recently the head of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musa al-Zarqawi, have openly threatened fellow Sunnis who take part in what they regard as a US-backed puppet government. The BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says that while the politicians themselves are generally well-guarded, their families are more vulnerable. The Iraqi Islamic Party boycotted the interim elections early last year, but it did take part in the December general elections. As well as providing the vice-president, it is expecting to have several ministers in the government that is currently being put together, our correspondent says. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/4949376.stm Published: 2006/04/27 06:50:49 GMT © BBC MMVI Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
