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Gunmen kill 21 commuters near Baghdad (includes a dozen high school students)
Yahoo News ^ | 6/04/06 | QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA

Posted on 06/04/2006 6:53:08 AM PDT by Libloather

Gunmen kill 21 commuters near Baghdad
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 11 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen dragged passengers off a buses northeast of Baghdad and killed 21 people, including a dozen high school students. The attackers spared four Sunni Arabs in one the worst sectarian atrocities in recent weeks.

Serwan Shokir, the mayor of Qara Tappah, said one other person was wounded in the early morning attack. He said there were 26 people on three mini headed from his town to Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad. The 12 slain students were apparently headed for Baqouba to take exams.

Of the dead, 19 were Shiite Turkomen and two were Kurds.

The four Sunni who survived were being question at Qara Tappah police station, Shokir said.

The attack occurred on the outskirts of Diyala province, a mixed region that in recent weeks has been transformed into a sectarian powder keg, with attacks against Sunni Arab and Shiite Shrines.

A parliament session was postponed Sunday after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki again failed to reach a consensus on candidates for the crucial ministers who will run the country's armed forces and police. Al-Maliki had promised to name candidates for approval by the 275-member parliament despite the disagreement, but was apparently persuaded to wait.

Deputy Parliament Speaker Khalid al-Atiya, a Shiite, said that due to the large number of candidates and failure to reach any agreement, the political parties decided "to give the prime minister another chance to have more negotiations."

Al-Maliki had engaged in last minute negotiations Sunday with Sunni Arabs, Shiites and Kurds in an effort to find a solution.

Al-Maliki and one of his deputes have staffed the posts of defense, interior and minister of state for national security since his government of national unity took office two weeks ago.

Filling the posts is seen as a key step toward al-Maliki's plan for Iraqi forces to take control of security from U.S.-led troops in 18 months.

The Interior Ministry post will go to a Shiite, the Defense Ministry to a Sunni Arab in an effort to provide balance on security matters.

There were conflicting reports Sunday over the fate of four Russian diplomats kidnapped in Baghdad.

An Interior Ministry spokesman on Sunday denied a report that four Russian hostages had been released the night before in a raid by Iraqi commandos. A senior ministry official Lt. Colonel Falah al-Mohamedawi said earlier that the Russian Embassy employees had been freed in a commando raid Saturday

But Brig. Adnan Abdul Rahman, the ministry's information director, later denied they had been released and said "this is not true."

The Russian Embassy in Baghdad said it had no new information on the captives. The Foreign Ministry in Moscow also said it was still trying to verify the information, according to the Russian ITAR-Tass news agency.

On Saturday, gunmen attacked a Russian diplomatic car just after noon, killing one Russian foreign service employee and kidnapping four, Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The ministry identified the slain Russian as Vitaly Vitalyevich Titov, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency.

The Sunni Arab Iraqi Islamic Party, a main partner in the government, condemned the attack and called on the kidnappers to release the Russians immediately. It also urged the Iraqi government to take action to secure Baghdad and other Iraqi cities and "put an end to these crimes."

At least 439 foreigners including diplomats have been kidnapped in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion three years ago, according to figures provided earlier this month by a U.S. anti-kidnapping task force. Russia opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and has no troops here but maintains a diplomatic presence.

In the southern city of Basra, a gunbattle broke out after Iraqi police surrounded a Sunni Arab mosque early, leaving at least nine people dead.

The standoff occurred hours after police stormed four Sunni mosques in Iraq's second-largest city late Saturday and Sunni clerics called on followers to gather in one of the shrines to protect it.

Basra police said they were searching for suspected militants based inside the al-Arab mosque in Basra when gunmen opened fire from within the shrine. Iraqi forces also said they arrested six people and found two vehicles packed with explosives near the mosque. Six people were arrested.

In Baghdad, gunmen in a car opened the fire on a minibus carrying telecommunications employees to work in the Shiite slum of Sadr City, killing four and wounding two, Col. Hassan Challoub said.

On Saturday, a suicide car bomber blew himself up in a crowded market late in Basra, killing 28 people and wounding 62.

Associated Press writers Sinan Salaheddin, Kim Gamel and Patrick Quinn contributed to this report.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 21; baghdad; commuters; dozen; gunmen; high; iraq; kill; school; students
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A coffin of one of the dead is transported at the hospital in the town of Kalar, after gunmen killed 21 people including many high school students and wounded one after dragging passengers off buses in the town of Ain Laila, inbetween Qara Tappah and Baqouba, in Iraq Sunday, June 4, 2006. Four Sunni Arabs on board were spared and the dead were all either Shiites or Kurds. (AP Photo)
1 posted on 06/04/2006 6:53:10 AM PDT by Libloather
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To: Libloather

What does that POS Murtha have to say about this?


2 posted on 06/04/2006 7:03:19 AM PDT by rickmichaels
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To: Libloather

Why some in Iraq still put up with this is beyond me.


3 posted on 06/04/2006 7:03:41 AM PDT by mtbopfuyn (I think the border is kind of an artificial barrier - San Antonio councilwoman Patti Radle)
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To: rickmichaels

American forces obviously didn't do it, but it's still our fault. We're just evil through and through.


4 posted on 06/04/2006 7:06:09 AM PDT by Clara Lou (A conservative is a liberal who has been mugged by reality. --I. Kristol)
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To: mtbopfuyn
Just wait until Murtha, the NY Times, CNN, MSNBC, etc. get hold of this story there will be an outcry and outrage like we've never seen before.

What's that you say the terroists did this, oh never mind after all they're just today's minutemen fighting a just cause and using the only means available to them. Move along nothing to see here.

5 posted on 06/04/2006 7:06:14 AM PDT by marlon
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To: Libloather
It's just like a real religion...

... only for animals, instead of people.

6 posted on 06/04/2006 7:07:09 AM PDT by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle ("It'sTime for Republicans to Start Toeing the Conservative Line, NOT the Other Way Around!")
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To: Alouette; SJackson; veronica; Slings and Arrows

Ping


7 posted on 06/04/2006 7:09:13 AM PDT by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle ("It'sTime for Republicans to Start Toeing the Conservative Line, NOT the Other Way Around!")
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To: Libloather

This is going to go a long way toward endearing the terrorist in the hearts of the Iraqis.


8 posted on 06/04/2006 7:09:53 AM PDT by Valin (http://www.irey.com/)
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To: Libloather

Sounds like a Sunni attack


9 posted on 06/04/2006 7:23:28 AM PDT by bnelson44 (Proud parent of a tanker! (Charlie Mike, son))
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To: All
Ignorance is not bliss. We are not dealing with mental giants over there. A mind set still controlled by tribes and warped religious thinkers (? we used that word loosely) that hasn't changed in 1400 years. Had the Bathists remained in power with a civilized leader things might have been different. We stirred up the pot and its going to take awhile for it to settle down. Those 2 car bombs found by the mosque should be place in the mosque and set off if they found to be related to the mosque's activity. All those jihadist who wish to to be martyrs should have the opportunity after they are captured. You don't cage mad or vicious dogs you put them to sleep. They are killing civilians, they are not soldiers, they are murderers, serial killers and demented religious madmen. They are garbage and should be treated as such, you don't save garbage you dispose of it.
10 posted on 06/04/2006 7:28:05 AM PDT by Bringbackthedraft
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To: rickmichaels
What does that POS Murtha have to say about this?

Probably, "It's Bush's fault."

11 posted on 06/04/2006 7:39:32 AM PDT by coconutt2000 (NO MORE PEACE FOR OIL!!! DOWN WITH TYRANTS, TERRORISTS, AND TIMIDCRATS!!!! (3-T's For World Peace))
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To: KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle

For all the liberals who claim that "Bush lied" about Iraq, I have only heard the man tell one lie. That Islam is a great and noble religion of peace.


12 posted on 06/04/2006 7:47:02 AM PDT by Sender ("Why, by God, I actually pity those poor sons-of-b*tches we're going up against. By God, I do".)
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To: Libloather

Islam - the Cult of Death.


13 posted on 06/04/2006 8:01:08 AM PDT by txzman (Jer 23:29)
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To: Libloather

guess you need "24" to be declared a massacre


14 posted on 06/04/2006 8:02:45 AM PDT by stylin19a (Some mornings, it's just not worth chewing through the leather straps.)
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To: Libloather

The perps should be found immediately. Does every schoolbus need an armed escort?


15 posted on 06/04/2006 8:07:13 AM PDT by RightWhale (Off touch and out of base)
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To: Libloather
When these monkeys have had enough killing, the citizens of Iraq will take action to protect themselves.

Until then.....who cares?

16 posted on 06/04/2006 8:10:01 AM PDT by zarf
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To: Libloather

WABC radio now referring to approximately four students killed.


17 posted on 06/04/2006 8:25:44 AM PDT by OldFriend (I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag.....and My Heart to the Soldier Who Protects It.)
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To: KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle
It's just like a real religion...



... only for animals, instead of people.


What did ya expect, from a religion founded by an illiterate, thieving, murdering, satan worshiping child molester?

18 posted on 06/04/2006 9:08:53 AM PDT by rawcatslyentist (I'd rather be carrying a shotgun with Dick, than riding shotgun with a Kennedyl!)
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To: Libloather

The Big Pharaoh

Sunday, June 4, 2006
http://www.bigpharaoh.com/

Yet another massacre destined to be forgotten
Topics: Uncategorized
After the massacre in Basra yesterday, Baghdad witnessed it's own massacre for today.

Gunmen dragged passengers off a buses northeast of Baghdad and killed 21 people, including a dozen high school students. The attackers spared four Sunni Arabs in one the worst sectarian atrocities in recent weeks.

Who wants to pay attention to these massacres when you have Haditha?!


19 posted on 06/04/2006 9:27:46 AM PDT by Valin (http://www.irey.com/)
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To: Bringbackthedraft
Had the Bathists remained in power with a civilized leader things might have been different.

The Bathists civilized? I don't think so. A bit more willing to accept modernity, but just as vicious and brutal as the others.

There's a good chance that these killing were done by the Bathists, since we didn't kill or jail most of them. They killed way more that this under Saddam, and in Syria under their branch of the Bathists.

20 posted on 06/04/2006 3:27:29 PM PDT by El Gato
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