Three killed in Iraq car bombing

A suicide car bomber attacked a Shiite Muslim community centre near Baghdad today, killing three people and wounding eight, police said.

The attack occurred in Khan Bani Saad, a market town 18 miles north of the capital at around 8pm local time in front of the Shiite centre, said police warrant officer, Jassim Abbas.

The incident occurred a day after gunmen shot dead a representative of Iraq’s top Shiite Muslim cleric, Ali al-Sistani, along with his son and four bodyguards in the town of Salman Pak south of Baghdad. Salman Pak and Khan Bani Saad have mixed population of Sunni and Shiite Muslims.

Shiites strongly support the January 30 elections to vote for a 275-member National Assembly while Sunni Muslim clerics have said elections should not be held under occupation.