14th Iraqi provincial poll candidate killed

BAGHDAD: A roadside bomb killed an Iraqi provincial elections candidate and three other people north of Baghdad yesterday, bringing the number of candidates killed in attacks to 14, officials said.
Najm Al-Harbi was on traveling to Baquba on a highway in Diyala province in his personal vehicle when the bomb exploded, killing him, two of his brothers and a bodyguard, a police lieutenant colonel and a doctor said. An official from Deputy Prime Minister Saleh Al-Mutlak’s office confirmed Harbi’s death, and said he was the head of the deputy premier’s list in Diyala.
Harbi’s killing comes a day after Hatim Mohammed Al-Dulaimi, a candidate for Salaheddin provincial council, was shot dead by gunmen near his home in Baiji, north of the Iraqi capital. Soldiers and policemen cast their ballots for the provincial elections on Saturday.
The election comes amid an uptick in violence and a long-running political crisis between the prime minister and several of his erstwhile government partners.