Bomber kills manager of election campaign in Iraq

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A suicide bomber killed a campaign manager for a Sunni party near Iraq's northern city of Mosul on Sunday, the latest sign that ethnic and sectarian tensions are rising ahead of this month's provincial elections. Police said the attacker detonated his explosives inside the reception area of Hassan al-Luheibi's home in Qayara, 60 kilometers south of Mosul, after saying he had pressing business to discuss. Bodyguards kept the bomber from going inside, but al-Luheibi emerged from the inner rooms to investigate the commotion and was killed in the blast, according to Col. Safaa Abdul-Razzaq. Two guards were also wounded, he said. Al-Luheibi was the deputy of prominent Sunni Arab lawmaker Saleh al-Mutlaq, who confirmed the attack. He also was the campaign manager for al-Mutlaq's National Dialogue Front in the northern provinces of Ninevah, of which Mosul is the capital, and Salahuddin. Al-Luheibi had planned to hold an election rally in Qayara on Monday, according to police.