Gunmen kill leading member of election boycott group

GUNMEN yesterday assassinated a member of an influential Sunni clerics’ group that has called for a boycott of national elections.

This comes just a day after Iraqi officials announced the balloting would be held on January 30 in spite of rising violence in Iraq.

Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces recovered 12 bodies, including five decapitated ones, from an area south of Baghdad. One was identified as a member of the Iraqi National Guard. The bodies were found during a raid on Sunday in Latifiyah, about 20 miles south of Baghdad.