Gunmen kill 11 relatives of Iraqi journalist associated with Saddam

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Masked gunmen stormed the family home of a journalist who was associated with Saddam Hussein's party and critical of the Iraqi government, killing 11 relatives as they ate breakfast in a neighborhood known as a Shiite militia stronghold, colleagues said. Dhia al-Kawaz, editor of the Jordan-based Asawat al-Iraq news agency, was in Jordan when his sisters, their husbands and children were reportedly killed Sunday in north Baghdad's Shaab district. According to the news agency's Web site on Monday, witnesses said more than five masked men broke into the home and opened fire, then planted a bomb inside. "Sectarian militias killed 11 family members of Dhia al-Kawaz," the agency's statement said, apparently referring to Shiite death squads that frequently target minority Sunnis and their supporters.