UNSC condemns bombings in northern Iraq

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The UN Security Council on Thursday condemned "in the strongest terms" four simultaneous suicide truck bombs in northern Iraq that killed at least 400 people, saying they were aimed at widening the sectarian and ethnic divide in the country. Council members called for an end to sectarian violence. The attacks against villages populated by the Yazidis, an ancient religious sect, were the deadliest of the war. The Islamic State in Iraq, an al Qaida front group, distributed leaflets a week ago warning residents near the scene of Tuesday's bombings that an attack was imminent because Yazidis are "anti-Islamic." The Security Council reaffirmed its "continued support for the Iraqi people and government as they rebuild their country" and reiterated "the need to promote national dialogue, reconciliation and broad political participation to ensure unity, peace, security, stability and the cessation of sectarian violence."