Rebels kill 13 Iraqis as US accused of rights abuse

BAGHDAD – At least 13 people were killed yesterday in a series of bombings and shootings across Iraq as US-led coalition forces were accused of widespread human rights abuses in the strife-torn country.

Amid the violence, Iraq’s President Jalal Talabani announced that parliament would hold its inaugural meeting on March 12 – nearly three months after the general elections. In the bloodiest attack, six Iraqis were killed and 27 wounded, including policemen, when a car bomb exploded against a police patrol in a market in the centre of Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, police said.The mixed town of Baquba, 60 kilometres from the capital, has been targeted by nearly daily bomb attacks for several weeks.In a separate rebel attack, three Shi’ites employed in a restaurant in the Sunni rebel bastion of Hawija, in northern Iraq, were killed when gunmen opened fire at 8am in the restaurant.Sheikh Tarekh Abdallah Ibrahim al-Obaidi of the powerful Obaidi tribe was also killed in a roadside bomb early yesterday in Hawija.The town has invited the wrath of al Qaeda frontman in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi after tribes there declared war on him.In Baghdad at least two people, one a policeman, were killed and 11 wounded in a series of attacks, two of them involving car bombs.Four mortar shells were fired at the Shi’ite district of Sadr City, but only one person was hurt, police said.The US military also announced yesterday the death of one of its soldiers on Sunday in a rebel attack in the western Al-Anbar province taking the total US military death toll since the March 2003 invasion to at least 2 304, according to an AFP count based on Pentagon figures.Meanwhile, leading human rights group Amnesty International charged that violations of human rights continued in Iraq at the hands of the coalition and Iraqi security forces.Tens of thousands of people have been held “arbitrarily” in Iraq since the start of the US-led invasion in March 2003, creating a situation that is ripe for abuse, Amnesty International said yesterday.- Nampa-AFPIn the bloodiest attack, six Iraqis were killed and 27 wounded, including policemen, when a car bomb exploded against a police patrol in a market in the centre of Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, police said.The mixed town of Baquba, 60 kilometres from the capital, has been targeted by nearly daily bomb attacks for several weeks.In a separate rebel attack, three Shi’ites employed in a restaurant in the Sunni rebel bastion of Hawija, in northern Iraq, were killed when gunmen opened fire at 8am in the restaurant.Sheikh Tarekh Abdallah Ibrahim al-Obaidi of the powerful Obaidi tribe was also killed in a roadside bomb early yesterday in Hawija.The town has invited the wrath of al Qaeda frontman in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi after tribes there declared war on him.In Baghdad at least two people, one a policeman, were killed and 11 wounded in a series of attacks, two of them involving car bombs.Four mortar shells were fired at the Shi’ite district of Sadr City, but only one person was hurt, police said.The US military also announced yesterday the death of one of its soldiers on Sunday in a rebel attack in the western Al-Anbar province taking the total US military death toll since the March 2003 invasion to at least 2 304, according to an AFP count based on Pentagon figures.Meanwhile, leading human rights group Amnesty International charged that violations of human rights continued in Iraq at the hands of the coalition and Iraqi security forces.Tens of thousands of people have been held “arbitrarily” in Iraq since the start of the US-led invasion in March 2003, creating a situation that is ripe for abuse, Amnesty International said yesterday.- Nampa-AFP