Insurgents kill Sunni parlaimentary candidate

Gunmen wearing Iraqi army uniforms broke into the home of a Sunni parliamentary candidate today and killed him, his three sons and his son-in-law on the outskirts of Baghdad.

Khadim Sarhid al-Hemaiyem was the leader of the Sunni Batta tribe and a candidate in the December 15 election, Maj. Falah al-Mohammedawi said.

“A group of gunmen with Iraqi army uniforms and vehicles broke into my brother’s house in the Hurriyah area and sprayed them with machine gun fire, killing him along with three sons and his son-in law,” said his brother, Nima Sarhid Al-Hemaiyem.

“His eldest son was assassinated one month ago in the Taji area, northern Baghdad, when unidentified men shot and killed him.”

The Batta tribe is one of Iraq’s largest Sunni tribes from the area north of Baghdad, where they are influential.

The murders follow a big push by US officials to encourage Sunni Muslim participation in the election, which will install the first non-transitional government in Iraq since the 2003 invasion.

Some Sunni-led insurgent groups have declared a boycott of the election and have threatened politicians who choose to participate in it.