Baghdad - A security source in Iraq's Anbar province revealed new details Friday of the assassination of Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, the independent Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency reported, saying the Sunni tribal leader was the victim of a suicide car bombing. Senior officer Tarek al-Dulaimi told Voices of Iraq that "a handicapped suicide bomber driving a Mercedes blew himself up Thursday at 3.20 pm close to Abu Risha's car, immediately killing him, his driver and two security guards."
The nature of the handicap was not made clear.
The suicide bomber, claiming he needed help, had found his way through to a checkpoint near Abu Risha's guest house just as the car of Abu Risha, head of the Anbar Salvation Council, was passing by, al-Dulaimi said.
Earlier reports said the influential Sunni leader was killed 50 metres from his home by an explosive charge targeting his convoy.
Abu Risha, who had joined forces with other tribes in western Iraq to fight militants of the al-Qaeda terrorist network in Iraq, was buried Friday in Ramadi in the western province of Anbar in the presence of two Iraqi government ministers and National Security Adviser Muwaffak al-Rubai.
Meanwhile, Sunni Iraqis in Anbar province vowed to continue to fight the terrorist network.
"We will go on with our fight against Iraq's enemies (al-Qaeda militants) till we get rid of them all for the sake of the security of Anbar and other parts of Iraq," said the slain leader's brother and successor in the Anbar Salvation Council, Ahmed Abu Risha.
Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, who met US President George W Bush 10 days before his death, had formed the council last year to coordinate fighting by local tribes against al-Qaeda militants in Anbar after Sunni locals turned against the brutality of the extremist militants.
The organization recently announced that al-Qaeda militants had been cleared out of Anbar, which was showcased by Bush during his recent visit as an example of success in Iraq.
The US military, which supports the council along with the Iraqi army, expressed its condolences to Abu Risha's family.
Two of Abu Risha's brothers were abducted in 2004 and their fate is unknown.
In other news, at least 11 Iraqis, including nine policemen, were killed Friday when a suicide bomber driving a fuel tank rigged with explosives blew himself up near a police checkpoint in Bayji city, a security source said.
Eight people were also wounded in the attack, the source added.
Bayji, 200 kilometres north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, has repeatedly been attacked, mostly by the al-Qaeda in Iraq group.
The US military meanwhile announced that 50 to 80 detainees would be released daily from US lockups for Ramadan, the Islamic fasting month that began Thursday for Sunnis and Friday for Shiites in Iraq.
The police director in Nineveh, Wathik al-Hamdani, told the independent Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency that police in the northern province had already released 60 prisoners.
Amnesties and early releases for inmates are typical across the Muslim world during Ramadan.
The Sunni Association of Muslim Scholars in a statement Friday accused US forces of arresting 10 Iraqis, stealing money and destroying a civilian car in raids in Baghdad's Tarmiya neighbourhood.
Witnesses said US troops had stormed the neighbourhood in search of "terrorists," the statement added.
According to the association, US soldiers have subjected northern Baghdad districts to human rights' violations such as the repeated detention of Iraqi women.
The US military did not comment on the incident.
Separately, US-led coalition forces killed five suspected terrorists and detained another 21 during operations in central and northern Iraq targeting senior leaders of al-Qaeda and a foreign terrorist network, the US military said.
In other developments, the US military reported Friday that seven of its soldiers were killed and 11 injured when the vehicle they were travelling in was involved in an accident in the north Baghdad suburb of Shula.
The soldiers were returning Monday from an operation in Shula to capture extremists responsible for attacks on US and Iraqi soldiers, the statement added.
