Key al-Sadr Ally Calls for New Parliamentary Elections in Iraq
By VOA News
13 November 2007
A key ally of radical Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has called for Iraq's parliament to be dissolved and new legislative elections held.
Prominent lawmaker Bahaa al-Araji from al-Sadr's political bloc told reporters in Baghdad Tuesday that the parliament has become a burden on the Iraqi people. He called for a revision to election law, saying he was expressing his personal views and not those of his bloc.
In violence Tuesday, Iraqi authorities say a police captain was killed in a shooting in the north of the country.
Police say the captain was driving with his family in the northern city of Kirkuk when gunmen opened fire on his car, killing the captain and wounding his wife.
Elsewhere in Kirkuk, Iraqi authorities say a roadside bomb exploded near a police convoy today, wounding at least three policemen.
In other news, the U.S. military says rocket and mortar attacks by insurgents in Iraq have dropped to their lowest level in 21 months.
The military attributes the drop to Iraqi citizens reporting weapons caches to authorities, local reconciliation efforts and coalition troops dismantling rocket squads.
An Iraqi military official says declining violence in Baghdad will allow the government later this month to reopen 10 roads that have been closed for security reasons.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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