BAGHDAD, 28 December 2005 — More than 10,000 people backing Sunni and secular Shiite politicians marched through Baghdad yesterday in support of a national unity government. Also yesterday attacks on security forces left six Iraqi police officers and two bystanders dead yesterday.
Municipal workers doing maintenance work in the Shiite holy city of Kerbala uncovered remains that police believed were part of a mass grave thought to date back to 1991, when Saddam Hussein’s regime quenched a Shiite uprising in the south. The remains — discovered on Monday — were sent for testing in an effort to identify the bodies, Kerbala police spokesman Rahman Mashawy said. He did not say how many bodies were found and the police claim could not be independently verified.
Violence has increased across Iraq after a lull following the Dec. 15 parliamentary elections, with at least two dozen people — including two US soldiers — killed in shootings and bombings Monday and 18 on Sunday.
More than 10,000 marchers, some carrying photos of Allawi, demonstrated in Baghdad in favor of a national unity government that would give more power to Sunnis and secular Shiites. Marches chanted “No Sunnis, no Shiites, yes for national unity.”
Clashes erupted between gunmen and Iraqi police in Baghdad, killing two police and two bystanders and wounding five people, Capt. Firas Keti said. South of Baghdad, a roadside bomb targeting a police patrol killed two officers and wounded two, and gunmen in southern Baghdad killed one officer and wounded another, police said. Gunmen southeast of Kirkuk, 290 kilometers north of Baghdad, killed one police officer and wounded two, Capt. Farhad Talabani said.
The US military yesterday said two US pilots died in a helicopter accident in western Baghdad on Monday night. The accident was under investigation; the military said no hostile fire was involved.
Iraq’s Electoral Commission said Monday that final results for the 275-seat Parliament could be released in about a week. Sunni and secular Shiite factions are demanding that an international body review more than 1,500 complaints, warning they may boycott the new legislature.
