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Tony Blair, elected to a historic third term as Britain’s prime minister, acknowledged Friday that the Iraq war was ‘a deeply divisive issue’ that hurt his Labour Party, but he said Britons were ready to ‘move on’ and focus on the future.
   Blair weathered a backlash from voters in Thursday’s election, although Labour’s majority in the House of Commons was reduced significantly to about 60 seats instead of the previous 161. That could weaken Blair’s mandate and force him to step down earlier than planned during his five-year term.
   The US president Bush, who left Friday for a five-day, four-country tour of central and Eastern Europe, called Blair from Air Force One to congratulate him on his re-election, said White House spokeswoman, Corry Schiermeyer.
   In a sign of the strength of the anti-war sentiment, one of Blair’s harshest critics was re-elected to the House of Commons.
   ‘Mr Blair, this is for Iraq,’ said anti-war activist George Galloway, who was expelled from Labour after urging British soldiers not to fight in Iraq. ‘All the people you killed, all the lies you told, have come back to haunt you.
   ‘And the best thing the Labour Party could do is sack you.’
   Galloway campaigned to end the economic sanctions imposed on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait and once said on Arab television that Arab nations should ‘stand by the Iraqi people.’ Almost half of the voters in his district are Muslim.
   Under Howard, the Tories added more than 30 seats to their total of 160 in the last Parliament.
   Labour needed at least 324 seats to form a majority in the 646-seat House of Commons.
   With 627 results declared by 1410 GMT, Labour had won 355 seats, compared with 197 for the Conservatives, 62 for Britain’s third party the Liberal Democrats and 13 for others. In 2001, Labour won 412, Conservatives 166, and Liberal Democrats 52.
   The slip in Labour’s lead could loosen Blair’s grip on power and prompt calls for him to step down before serving out a full term. His Cabinet colleague and rival, powerful Treasury chief Gordon Brown, is widely regarded as his likely successor.
   Never before has the Labour Party won three straight elections. Margaret Thatcher was the only other prime minister in modern British history to do so, accomplishing the feat for the Conservatives.
   ‘I think we can be really proud of what we’ve achieved,’ Blair, who turned 52 Friday, told supporters on his return from Sedgefield to London. ‘We’ve got a mandate to govern this country again.”
   Blair on Friday promised ‘radical’ legislation on health, education and law and order, and met senior Cabinet colleagues Friday in advance of a possible government reshuffle. The government’s programme will be announced by the queen at the state opening of Parliament on May 17.
   The British Broadcasting Corp projected Labour would win 66 more seats than all the other parties combined. Sky news put the Labour majority at 64 seats.
   That margin of a Labour victory could have consequences for Britain’s ‘special relationship’ with the United States. The battering Blair took over Iraq during the campaign suggested that any future British leader will probably be wary of backing Washington militarily in the face of hostile domestic opinion.
   ‘One of the conclusions of this is that he (Blair) certainly does not have a mandate to launch another war along with George Bush,’ said Robin Cook, who resigned from Blair’s Cabinet in opposition to the war.
   Results in 610 constituencies showed a turnout of more than 61 per cent of the electorate, up 2 per cent from 2001’s record low.
   A politically weakened Blair, who has said he will not seek another term, also could find it difficult to persuade British voters to approve a proposed constitution for the European Union, which requires ratification by all member states.
   Conservative lawmaker Boris Johnson said the result reflected the ‘slow, sad political extinction of Tony Blair.’
   During the campaign, Howard accused Blair of misrepresenting flimsy British intelligence on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and lying about the legal case for war. Though he himself backed the war, he urged voters to ‘wipe the smirk’ off Blair’s face.
   Blair was once regarded as Labour’s most prized assets. He banked on his trustworthiness and described himself as a ‘pretty straight guy’ after winning power in 1997.
   Labour’s diminished majority is a stark indication of how far his popularity has crashed since his landslide victories of 1997 and 2001. Blair could now face difficulties controlling those Labour lawmakers deeply disillusioned with his leadership, especially over Iraq, and the centrist flavour he has given the traditionally socialist party.
   Blair’s government only narrowly defeated revolts in the last parliament, including the crucial vote to go to war in Iraq, and legislation introducing tuition fees for university students, more private funding for state-run hospitals and tough anti-terrorism laws.
   Labour’s strong economic record appears to have outweighed the resentment over Iraq. The party also is credited with improving public services such as health and education through investment.
   ‘I promise that we will listen and we will learn so that we can serve our country and our communities even better in the years to come,’ Brown said.
   Commentators suggested power would begin to seep away from Blair to Brown, whose strong stewardship of the British economy has made him a more popular and trustworthy figure.
   ‘On these results I would have thought, not Gordon Brown himself but the Brown supporters will be wondering how quickly they can move Tony Blair out of Downing Street,’ former Conservative minister Michael Portillo said.
   ‘The key factor in the campaign was that this time Tony Blair was not an electoral asset. He was becoming a liability.’

The authorities will deploy 18,000 members of the army, paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles, police, Armed Police Battalion and the Bangladesh Ansars on Sunday to maintain law and order before, during and after the elections to the Chittagong City Corporation.
   Army personnel have already started vigilance in small groups at key city points since May 4. Eight companies of the army will take position at the Dampara Police Lines with six companies of the BDR, 8,000 members each from the Armed Police Battalion and the Ansars today.
   Sources in the office of the returning officer said there will be a briefing for the security forces at the police lines in the afternoon before they take position from tomorrow morning.
   The army personnel will be split into 80 teams, to be led by 70 magistrates. The BDR men will be divided into 60 units, each to be led by one magistrate, said the sources.
   Five hundred and twenty-two magistrates will be on duty on the election day. They will also preside over mobile courts besides leading the security forces. At least 24 security personnel will be deployed in every poling centre during the election.
   The office of the returning officer opened a control room at the Chittagong gymnasium, adjacent to the MA Aziz stadium Friday afternoon.
   ‘All election activities will be conducted and monitored from the control room which will remain open till the announcement of the polls results,’ Golam Quddus, returning officer for the elections and also the additional divisional commissioner (general), Chittagong, told New Age.
   The candidates of the four-party ruling alliance and the Awami League-backed Nagarik Committee embarked on last-ditch campaigning Friday. All kinds of campaigning and publicity will be banned from midnight Saturday.
   Most of the commissioner candidates were bringing out separate processions in their respective wards while the two mayoral candidates conducted extensive mass contacts in different parts of the city.
   The Nagarik Committee candidate and incumbent mayor, ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury conducted mass contacts at Panchlaish, Andarkilla, Jamal Khan, Khatoonganj, New Market, Sadarghat and Pathantuli.
   A group of sportsmen and sports organisers under the banner of Krirangan Nagarik Forum brought out a procession in favour of Mohiuddin from the MA Aziz stadium in the afternoon.
   The procession paraded Kadamtali, Dewanhat, Badamtali, Barik building, Eshan Mistrirhat, CEPZ, Halishahar, Alankar Crossing, GEC crossing, Chawtteshwari Road, Jamal Khan, Laldighi and ended at the Nagarik Committee office at Nandan Kanan.
   The Bangladesh Football Federation secretary, Harunur Rashid, AL leaders Obaidul Kader and Saber Hossain Chowdhury led the procession.
   The Nagarik Committee also held a news conference where the leaders accused the Election Commission of playing a partisan role.
   ‘The returning officer’s office appointed only two minority presiding officers out of 577 which proved the bias of the commission,’ AL presidium member Suranjit Sengupta claimed.
   The committee also alleged that despite repeated appeals the commission did not take any move to ensure security for minority voters.
   The AL leaders also termed the change of the inspector general of police within a span of only 28 days another blueprint to rig the CCC polls.
   As the then IGP on a visit to Chittagong ordered the police administration to play a neutral role in the election, irrespective of party and opinion, the government replaced him with a person loyal to the BNP, they alleged.
   AL leaders Tofail Ahmed, Amir Hossain Amu, Professor Abu Sayed, former CU VC Professor Abdul Mannan and former BMA leader Mostofa Jalal Mohiuddin addressed the press conference among others.
   The four-party alliance candidate Mir Mohammad Nasir Uddin conducted mass contacts and rallies at Steel Mills Bazar, EPZ Crossing, Dhaniyalapara, Halishahar, Alangkar Crossing, Bangla Bazar Bahaddharhat, Kalamia Bazar and outer stadium.
   The senior joint secretary of the BNP, Tarique Rahman, was accompanied by Nasir during the campaigning.
   Tarique urged the city people to cast their votes in favour of the ruling party candidate to expedite development of the port city.

Frontline leaders of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the opposition Awami League have converged on the Chittagong city to campaign for their mayoral candidates in the Chittagong City Corporation elections.
   More top-notch leaders of both the parties are expected to join electioneering before the polls , scheduled to be held on May 9.
   A number of ministers have arrived in Chittagong to boost the campaign for Mir Mohammad Nasiruddin, the mayoral candidate of the BNP-led four-party ruling alliance, who is also the state minister for civil aviation and tourism, said sources in the BNP.
   AL sources said top leaders of the party were in Chittagong on a double mission — to campaign for ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, the incumbent mayor and a candidate from the AL-backed Nagarik Committee, and to watch out for any attempt to manipulate the polls.
   On Friday, the BNP senior joint-secretary general, Tarique Rahman, and a number of ministers and state ministers campaigned for Nasir.
   Tarique is scheduled to part in 12 rallies on Friday and Saturday. He will also address a grand rally at the city’s Laldighi Maidan, the latest showdown before election, Saturday afternoon.
   Earlier, the Awami League president and leader of the opposition in parliament, Sheikh Hasina, and Gano Forum president Dr Kamal Hossain visited the port city on May 1 and May 5 respectively and addressed rallies of Mohiuddin.
   The ministers, state ministers and state and deputy minister-ranked BNP leaders staying in Chittagong are the foreign minister, M Morshed Khan, health and family welfare minister, Dr Khondokar Mosharraf Hossain, agriculture minister, MK Anwar, fisheries and livestock minister, Abdullah Al Noman, commerce ministry adviser, Barkatullah Bhulu, state minister for labour, Amanullah Aman, state minister for land, Ukil Abdus Sattar, state minister for public works, Alamgir Kabir, state minister for communications, Salahuddin Ahmed, state minister for local government, Ziaul Haque Zia, state minister for forest and environment, Jafrul Islam Chowdhury, Rajshahi City Corporation mayor Mizanur Rahman Minu, Barisal City Corporation mayor Majibur Rahman Sarwar and whip Syed Wahidul Alam.
   The lawmakers of BNP staying in Chittagong are Jainal Abedin Faruque, Mohammed Shahjahan, Shah Moazzem Hossain Kaikobad, Mostofa Kamal Pasha, Monjurul Ahasan, Abdul Gafur Bhuiyan, Anwarul Azim, SA Sultan, Anwar Hossain, Monirul Haque Chowdhury and Mosharraf Hossain.
   On the other hand, the Awami League presidium members Tofail Ahmed, Begum Matia Chowdhury, Amir Hossain Amu, Suranjit Sengupta and Abul Mal Abdul Muhit, joint secretary Obaidul Kader, Sylhet City Corporation mayor Badruddin Ahmed Kamran, former mayor of the Dhaka City Corporation Mohammed Hanif, Bir Bahadur MP, Talukdar Abdul Khaleque MP, K.M Jahangir MP, Shamsur Rahman Sharif MP, Ashraful Islam MP and whip Abdus Shahid had been campaigning for Mohiuddin staying in Chittagong.
   The Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal executive president Moinuddin Khan Badal, Samyabadi Dal general secretary Dilip Barua, Workers Party politburo member Fazle Hossain Badsha were also staying in Chittagong and campaigning for the Nagarik Committee candidate.
   Obaidul Kader told New Age that the leaders gathered in Chittagong from different parts of the country not only to conduct campaign in favour of Mohiuddin but also to keep a close watch whether the government was making any blueprint to capture the mayoral post by rigging votes.
   ‘The ministers are abusing power for the win of the four-party backed candidate pushing us into deep concern over the probable vote rigging,’ he said.
   The BNP city unit general secretary, Dastagir Chowdhury, however, has turned down the allegation of abusing state power by the ministers, saying the ministers, state ministers and central leaders had come to Chittagong to inspire the local leaders and activists.
   ‘The ministers are neither abusing state power nor creating any pressure on the administration and just accompanying our candidate,’ Dastagir said.

The opposition Awami League will neither make any proposal for nor sit with the government for a dialogue over the appointment of the next chief election commissioner.
   The top position of the four-member Election Commission is set to fall vacant on May 23 when the five-year tenure of MA Syed expires.
   Of the three election commissioners, Safiur Rahman is scheduled to serve out his tenure on June 24, and Munsef Ali and AKM Mohammad Ali on April 18, 2006.
   ‘The Awami League will not propose any name to the government for appointment as the chief election commissioner,’ said the AL general secretary, Abdul Jalil MP. ‘Rather, we plan to come up with a coordinated proposal for reforms in the provision for caretaker government and the electoral process.’
   The government has, meanwhile, repeatedly rejected the opposition demand for reforms in the caretaker system, with the prime minister, Khaleda Zia, vowing at several public meetings that the next general elections will be held on time and under the existing constitutional provision.
   When asked what if the government sticks to its position, regardless of whatever proposal the Awami League comes up with, Jalil said the decision of the ruling alliance is not ‘anything like the Qur’an that it cannot be changed’.
   He claimed that the opposition proposal for reforms in the electoral process and the caretaker system had nothing to do with the appointment of the next chief election commissioner.
   The Awami League wants appointment of only those persons as election commissioners who are acceptable to all the political parties, he said.
   A draft proposal on electoral reforms, prepared by the party, says judges, teachers and administrative officials should be considered for appointment as the chief election commissioners and the election commissioners. It also says such appointments should follow consultation with all the political parties.
   Meanwhile, sources in the ruling BNP claim that the government is considering inviting the Awami League for a discussion about the appointment of the next chief election commissioner.
   The BNP secretary general, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan MP, has already gone public with a statement that his party was ready for consultation with the main opposition party over the issue only if the latter came up with a specific proposal.

The Awami League president, Sheikh Hasina, and the Gano Forum president, Dr Kamal Hossain, had a meeting and discussed the possible course of movements against the government of the BNP-led four-party alliance on Friday night.
   Dr Kamal met Hasina at the latter’s Sudha Sadan residence in Dhaka as a part of the opposition’s consultation meeting to come up with a formula to be acceptable by all to launch the anti-government movement.
   The two leaders also discussed the upcoming election to the Chittagong City Corporation, electoral reforms and strengthening of the election commission before the next general election scheduled to be held in early 2007.
   Sources close to the meeting said Dr Kamal had narrated his personal experience on his Chittagong visit to support the Awmai League-backed Nagarik Committee candidate, Mohiuddin Chowdhury, and the overall election atmosphere there.
   ‘He also discussed the electoral reforms proposals made by different political parties,’ said a source adding that he emphasised that there should be a coordinated proposal on reforms of the caretaker system and the election commission.
   Also apprehension of government’s bid to manipulate the Chittagong city corporation polls was featured in the meeting, and both the opposition leaders agreed to launch vigorous movement against the four-party ruling alliance if the election rigged.

Leaders of the Alliance against the World Bank Immunity on Friday urged the government not to provide blanket immunity to the international lending agencies like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
   The leaders warned that the government will have to face street agitation once the parliament passes the ‘Financial Organisations Bill 2004’.
   ‘We will also challenge the bill in court if it is passed,’ Aminur Rasul, national coordinator of the alliance, told a news conference at the Dhaka Reporters Unity.
   He said immunity to the lending agencies is a violation of fundamental rights of the people in the country.
   The alliance leaders announced a series of agitation programmes protesting against the government’s move to give immunity to the bank and the fund.
   The programmes include bringing out a procession from Shaheed Minar on May 8, holding rally on May 11, and submission of a memorandum to the speaker on May 12.
   Similar programmes will also be held in the district towns across the country in favour of their demands.
   ‘The World Bank is strongly speaking about accountability, good governance, and human rights, if so, why it needs blanket immunity to keep them above the law,’ said Rasul.

The US House of Representatives on Thursday approved an 82-billion-dollar emergency budget for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan that also includes $656 million to aid victims of last year’s tsunami in the Indian Ocean.
   The compromise measure, approved by a 368-58 vote, is the result of negotiations to resolve differences with similar legislation passed by the US Senate. The Senate is also expected to approve the compromise.
   The legislation provides money for more troops, weapons and equipment and to help build both Afghan and Iraqi security forces.

Hoardings continue to advertise tobacco products in the capital and elsewhere although the smoking and tobacco control law came into force more than a month ago. People also keep smoking at places where it is restricted by the law.
   The tobacco product companies are also violating the instruction stipulated by the law for printing health warning covering 30 per cent of the visible area of a cigarette packet.
   The Smoking and Tobacco Product Usage (Control) Bill 2005 was passed in the parliament on March 13 and it came into effect on March 25. The law prohibits smoking at certain public places and in public transports and the advertisement of tobacco products.
   The law defines public places as educational institutions, government, semi-government and autonomous body offices, libraries, elevators, hospitals, clinics, court buildings, airports, sea and river port buildings, railway stations and bus terminal buildings, ferries, cinemas, covered exhibition centres, theatre halls, shopping centres, public toilets, and government and privately-owned children’s parks.
   The public transports where smoking is prohibited include buses, trains, ships, motor vessels and all mechanised vehicles that carry passengers and aeroplanes.
   The law also prohibits advertisement of tobacco products at cinemas and on television, sales of films or videotapes containing tobacco advertisement, publication of advertisement in books, magazines, leaflets, handbills, hoardings and newspapers.
   Violation of the provision will result in three months’ imprisonment or a penalty of Tk 1,000 while smoking in restricted places will impose a penalty of Tk 50.
   But the hoardings containing advertisements of Navy and Castle, two local brands, and Gold Leaf, a foreign brand, were still seen at almost all the markets in Dhaka, especially at Moghbazar, Nilkhet, Gausia, Hatirpool Bazar, Panthapath and Sonargaon Road and also at places outside the city such as Tongi Bazaar, Amin Bazar, Savar town and Fatullah Bazar in the past week.
   Fazle Rabbi and Hasan Sharif, two students of political science at Dhaka University, were smoking in Balaka Cinema waiting room on April 30 and they said they were not aware that smoking was restricted at cinemas.
   Badsha Mia, a rickshaw puller, who was smoking at the same place with his friends, asked back, ‘Where should I smoke if I am not allowed here?’
   Asif Nazrul, a teacher of law at Dhaka University, said separate zones should be set up for smokers at places where smoking is restricted.
   ‘Arrangements for smokers should be made once the government begins enforcing the law; rights of smokers will be violated, otherwise,’ he said.
   Several newspapers reported that police beat people who smoked at public places or the police took money from them.
   ‘We are yet to receive the copy of the gazette notification of the law,’ said Dhaka Metropolitan Police additional commissioner, Faruk Ahmed. ‘We must begin a drive against the violators as soon as we receive it.’

The Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States has termed the charge sheet filed in the explosive case involving the killing of former finance minister Shah AMS Kibria incomplete, police sources said.
   They said as the FBI, which concentrated mainly on the source of grenades, asked for more investigation into the origin of the explosives, Bangladeshi intelligence agents once again talked to the relatives of the accused in two cases relating to Kibria’s murder.
   According to the sources, Munshi Atiqur Rahman of the Criminal Investigation Department interrogated 20 relatives of 10 accused in Habiganj on Tuesday following an FBI message that reportedly asked for another round of grilling on the source of grenades.
   Munshi Atiq, however, said he did not know about the contents of the FBI message. ‘Following a message from the FBI, I was asked by my office to conduct further interrogation. I don’t know anything about contents of the message,’ he said.
   The senior ASP of the CID was the investigation officer of the Kibria killing case. Officer-in-charge of Habiganj Sadar police station, M Shafiuzzaman, was the IO of the explosives case relating to the murder of Kibria.
   Shafiuzzaman in the charge sheet mentioned that the grenades used for the killing of the former finance minister and four Awami League leaders on January 27 were collected from Tipra Palli of Chunarughat upazila in Habiganj.
   Tipra Palli is the residence of Jogesh Bharma, the main accused in the arms and ammunition haul case in Kahalu of Bogra.
   But, sources concerned said that the charge sheet submitted on April 20 did not say anything whether there was any link between the main accused in the Habiganj cases, Abdul Kaiyum and Jogesh Bharma.
   The sources said that the FBI in the latest message also asked for finding the origin of the grenades as it considered all the cases relating to explosives — used for carnages or were seized – were inter-related.
   When contacted, the outgoing inspector general of police, Hadis Uddin, told BDNEWS on Wednesday, ‘I do not know anything regarding the FBI message. The FBI deals with the government through the home ministry.’
   Home ministry’s joint secretary, Muhammad Muhasin, who dealt with the FBI team while it visited Bangladesh recently, declined to say anything on the matter.
   The FBI team had talked to the accused in both the Kibria killing and explosive cases, and their relatives.
   Apart from killing Kibria and others, grenades were used for the August 21 carnage on an Awami League rally where 21 people were killed.
   Law enforcers recovered huge arms, ammunitions and explosives, including grenades in Chittagong last year. They also seized a big consignment in Bogra. Besides, grenades were also recovered from different places of the country, including the Dhaka Central Jail.

Two suspected underground party operatives were killed in police-criminal shootout in Madaripur and Kushtia early Friday, raising the crossfire death toll since June 2004 to 290.
   Sharbahara party leader Akkel Ali was killed at Hasankandi in Rajoir of Madaripur and a regional leader of Purba Banglar Communist Party (Janajudha), Laltu, at Malihati in Mirpur of Kushtia, the police said.
   They said Akkel, a wanted in three murder and three other cases arrested from the capital on Tuesday, was killed in shootout near Hasankandi United High School where he was taken to arrest his accomplices.
   The gunfight ensued when his accomplices opened fire at the policemen, the police said and added Akkel was caught in the crossfire and died on the spot.
   A pipe-gun and 10 bullets were recovered from there.
   Akkel reportedly admitted that he along with his party men had killed two special branch policemen – sub-inspector Hasnain Azam Khan and office assistant Quamrul Islam Thakur – after abducting them from Rajoir in early April. They sliced the bodies of the cops and threw it into the Arial Khan river, the police said.
   In Kushtia, Laltu, wanted in three murder and few other cases, was killed near Malihati police camp where a criminal gang opened shots at the police who challenged them while passing through a bridge there. The police also opened firing in counter.
   As the criminals retreated after a few minutes, the police found the body of Laltu on the spot, claimed the police. They also recovered a gun and six bombs from the spot.

The pro-government Hadi-Zahid panel of the Doctors Association of Bangladesh appeared to secure a total victory in BMA polls held Thursday, according to the latest results.
   The vote counting was on till Friday night. The full and final results are likely to be announced today, the association’s election commission said.
   Sources concerned said that the margin of votes polled by the Dr Hadi-Dr Zahid and the Dr Rashid-e-Mahbub-Dr Iqbal Arsnal panel of opposition backed Swadhinata Chikitshak Parishad was 5,000.
   They said that the panel supported by Doctors Association of Bangladesh is leading in 52 centres out of 67. The election commission received results of 32 centres. Of the total 25,294 votes, 10,995 are in Dhaka, where 7,661 votes were cast.

A car bomb ripped through a busy market south of Baghdad and another smashed into a minibus packed with policemen north of the capital Thursday, killing a total of 29 people and wounding more than 40.
   The latest bloodletting came as the prime minister, Ibrahim Jaafari, attempted to put the final touches to his cabinet line-up, three months after general elections and more than a week after unveiling a partial government list.
   ‘A car bomb with a suicide driver exploded in the Mokhadar market, in the centre of Suwayrah, killing 17 and wounding 40,’ police captain, Namir Ali, said.
   The blast blew market stalls to pieces, as panic reined amid the carnage and medics tried to treat the most urgent cases next to the mangled wreckage of several vehicles.
   The city lies in a lawless area where Sunni Arab guerrilla groups have carried out scores of attacks against security forces and imposed their authority on civilian residents.
   Some 60 bodies were fished out of the Tigris River near Suwayrah last month. The president, Jalal Talabani, said they were those of Shias sized in a mass hostage-taking by Sunni militants in the nearby town of Madain.
   Earlier Friday, a suicide bomber rammed his car into a minibus carrying policemen near ousted dictator Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit, killing eight policemen and four civilians, including a child, a medic said.
   More than 300 people have already died this month in at least 30 car bombings and other attacks by Sunni guerrillas.
   Iraqi police said they found 14 bodies, blindfolded and hands bound, executed with a bullet to the back of the head, in north-eastern Baghdad.
   In the Shia heartland, five people were wounded when clashes broke out between police and worshippers leaving prayers in the central shrine town of Kufa after a fiery sermon by Sadr.

A suspected robber was beaten to death at Char Kaliganj in Keraniganj Thursday night. He was identified as Jewel alias Phensi Jewel, 25.
   The police said a band of 10-12 armed men broke into house of Hajji Idris at about 9:30pm prompting Sohel, son of Idris, and others of the family to screamed for help.
   The robbers retreated amid the subsequent hue and cry but Sohel grabbed hold of Jewel. Jewel’s associates opened fire to help him escape but failed as people in the locality encircled the house.
   By the time police arrived at the scene, the mob had beaten Jewel to death. The law enforcers sent the body to the Mitford hospital morgue for autopsy.
   Local people claimed that Jewel was a member of an organised crime gang of the locality.
   A case was filed with the Keraniganj police station.