Mourners vow revenge of leader of Iraqi Sunni revolt against al-Qaida

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Some 1,500 mourners called for revenge as they buried the leader of the Sunni revolt against al-Qaida, who was assassinated by a bomb after meeting with US President George W. Bush earlier this month. An al-Qaida front in Iraq claimed responsibility for the blast that killed Adbul-Sattar Abu Risha, 37, and three companions. A statement posted on the Internet by the Islamic State of Iraq called Abu Risha "one of the dogs of Bush" and described Thursday's killing as a "heroic operation that took over a month to prepare." The statement could not be independently verified Friday, but it appeared on Web sites commonly used by the insurgents. Al-Qaida earlier killed four of Abu Risha's brothers and six other relatives for working with the US military. In Diyala province, meanwhile, a bomb exploded near a US military vehicle on Friday, killing four American soldiers, the US command said. They were the first American deaths reported in Iraq since Monday.