Updated at 6:35 p.m. EST, Nov. 28, 2008
Thousands of Sadr followers protested the passage of a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement during Friday prayers today, while a bomber targeted one of their mosques in Mussayab. At least 21 Iraqis were killed and 58 more were wounded across the country. Meanwhile, Japan announced the end of its air force mission in Iraq. Also, Ayman al-Zawahri, who is second in command of al-Qaeda, blamed the U.S. financial crisis on its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Protests against a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement took place in Sadr City and Basra just a day after the passage of the pact in parliament. Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr asked his followers to wear black and publicly mourn the passage. His offices will be closed for three days in support as well. It still has to be approved by the Iraqi cabinet in the coming days and faces a public referendum next summer. Many believe that the pact’s passage strengthens, what many critics call, the authoritarian government of Prime Minister Nouri-al Maliki.
A mosque run by Sadr followers was the target of a suicide bomber in Mussayab. At least 12 people were killed and 19 others were wounded as they were gathering at a security checkpoint before Friday prayers.
In Baghdad, a suicide car bomber killed two people and wounded 14 in a central neighborhood. A blast occurred near a U.S. base in Sadr City; one person was wounded.
In Mosul, two more people died overnight from wounds received in yesterday’s bombing; 12 more wounded were also reported, bringing the totals up to four dead and 40 wounded.
Iraqi army soldiers raided a booby-trapped home near Baquba, where two of them were killed and three more wounded.
Four policemen were wounded during a bombing in Khanaquin.
A bomb in Duluiya wounded three policemen.
In Missan province, 1,650 police recruits graduated from their training courses.
Five al-Qaeda suspects were arrested in Tahrir.
A Katyusha rocket fell on a home in Kut, killing a child and wounding two other family members. Nine suspects were arrested.
Also, Amnesty International warned that any Iraqi detainees moved from U.S. to Iraqi custody could be in danger of torture or execution. Amnesty International has received many reports of human rights violations concerning Iraqi jails.
Compiled by Margaret Griffis
