BAGHDAD, Aug 17 (KUNA) -- Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan Baqer Jabr said Wednesday that four people were caught in the vicinity of the three major bombs that were detonated in Baghdad and killed close to 75 people while injuring 95.
Among the dead were 20 women and five members of the Iraqi police while the injured included dozens of women and 11 policemen.
The four suspects had remote controls that could have been used in detonating the bombs.
"The suspects are still being questioned," the minister said in a news statement.
A committee has been formed to investigate the circumstances of the entry of small cars to the Nahda bus station, where one of the attacks took place.
Iraqi Presidential Spokesman, Kamram Qaradaghi, had condemned the attacks and so did a spokesman for the Iraqi government, Laith Kubba.
For his part, newly-appointed British Ambassador to Iraq, William Patey, deplored the attacks in a talks show Wednesday.
"I don't think what is required is more troops, more coalition troops. This is going to take a sustained effort; I think we have seen a short term increase in terrorist activity. We think the trend over last few months has been relatively stable, we see a consistent level of attacks, with some days worse than others," he said about the escalation of violence.
BAGHDAD, Aug 17 (KUNA) -- A member of the Iraqi Sunni Muslim Scholars Group was assassinated by unidentified assailants northeast of the capital, the group announced in a statement on Wednesday.
"Unidentified gunmen shot dead Sheikh Ali al Shamari soon after he left his house at 07:30 AM (local time) Wednesday," said the statement, noting that Al Shamari is the Imam (preacher) of the Janabi mosque in Khan Bani Saad area northeast of Baghdad.
"This Cowardly attack is part of a series of assassination attempts by hired quarters against members of the group and its firm stances", read the statement circulated here today.
Meanwhile, the group called on the Iraqi government to set free Sheikh Shiet Bashar of Talafar, noting that the 80-years-old man was arrested by Iraqi police last July as he led a delegation representing clans of the city to meet officials in the Baghdad government for talks on the situation in Talafar.