Al-Qaida in Iraq likely killed Shiite lawmaker, U.S. official says

[unhappycamper]

Al-Qaida in Iraq likely killed Shiite lawmaker, U.S. official says
By James Warden, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday, October 15, 2008

BAGHDAD — The assassination of a Shiite lawmaker appears to be the work of al-Qaida in Iraq, said Col. John Hort, the brigade commander responsible for Sadr City, the Shiite slum where the killing has prompted mass demonstrations against the U.S. military.

Saleh al-Ugaili, a Sadrist member of parliament, died in a roadside bomb attack Thursday. Al Ugaili was the second MP to be assassinated in 18 months.

Al-Ugaili died 200 meters from an Iraqi army checkpoint, and many Shiites accused the Iraqi army of not doing enough to protect him.

Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr even blamed the United States, which condemned the attack. The accusations endanger fragile security gains in Sadr City, a longtime bastion of opposition to the Iraqi government and coalition forces.

It could also reignite conflict between competing Shiite factions. Some Sadrists blamed the killing on the Badr Organization, an alleged militia with ties to the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, the largest party in the Iraqi parliament that has often been accused of dominating the Iraqi security forces.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=58152

[Xipe Totec]

1. Is this the same Al-Qaida in Iraq that was defeated by the surge?

Or, is this the new and improved Al-Qaida in Iraq version 3.1?