Iraqi Election News: Leading Sunni Cleric Assassinated
DEBKAfile Intelligence
7 January 2005
Leader of mainstream Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party Omar Abdallah kidnapped and murdered in Mosul amid massive insurgent campaign to boycott vote. Islamic Party pulled out of race when postponement refused
Car bomb blast left at least 20 dead at Iraqi police academy graduation in Hilla southwest of Baghdad. Five Iraqis killed in US troops-insurgents crossfire in Ramadi, 6 by suicide bomber in Baqouba.