Baghdad seeks to defuse tensions over bus killings

Iraq’s government is trying to defuse tensions over the killing of 22 mostly Shiite pilgrims in the Sunni Anbar province, meeting tribal leaders and releasing men suspected of carrying out the attack. The execution-style killings on Monday of the pilgrims, and the angry reaction and arrests that followed, threatened to rekindle sectarian hostilities in Anbar, a Sunni heartland that saw some of the worst fighting in Iraq’s war. Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki sent a high-ranked delegation led by Defence Minister Saadoun Al Dulaimi, who is originally from Anbar, to meet with local chiefs before they all travelled to Karbala province for a funeral for the victims. “The visit of Anbar tribal leaders and a delegation to Karbala is a step in the right direction to solving this problem and sends a message to those who want to ignite a crisis,” said Nussaif Jasim, deputy chief of Kerbala provincial council. Gunmen on Monday attacked two buses carrying Shiite pilgrims headed to Syria from Karbala, killing the 22 men while sparing 15 women, 12 children and two elderly men. Four of the men shot were Sunni policemen who had hitched a lift with the Shiite pilgrims. Shiiite authorities from neighbouring Karbala province arrested eight suspects in Anbar on Thursday, infuriating local leaders. Authorities released four suspects on Saturday due to a lack of evidence and Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Saleh Al Mutlaq said the other four would be released soon. “Unfortunately some mistakenly deem this to be a Sunni-Shiite crisis. Not at all,” Maliki said at a press conference on Saturday. Mutlaq said an investigation would be conducted into the way the men had been arrested, calling it “shameful behaviour.”. But families of victims at the funeral in Karbala on Saturday demanded justice for slain relatives. “However long it takes, we will reach the real criminals,” said Hussain Kareem, whose cousin was killed in the attack. “We know what the government did had a political purpose. This is not a secret. But we blame the people of Anbar for not protecting the pilgrims’ route. We will not seek revenge, but we say they should be reprimanded.” One senior local politician in Anbar has called for security in the province to be handled by local militiamen instead.