Iraq election candidate killed in 'sticky bomb' attack

A Sunni Arab candidate for Iraqi parliamentary elections was killed in a bombing on Wednesday, the first such killing ahead of the March 7 polls, police said. Saud al-Essawi, of the Iraqi Unity Alliance (IUA), and his two bodyguards were killed when a magnetic "sticky bomb" attached to his car exploded in the former rebel bastion of Fallujah, 30 miles west of Baghdad. The attack occurred at 2:30 pm, according to a police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity. The IUA is led by Ahmed Abu Risha, a key Sunni leader who turned against Al-Qaeda to play a major role in reversing Iraq's insurgency, and current interior minister Jawad al-Bolani, an independent Shiite. The multi-confessional political bloc was formed in October, ahead of the March parliamentary election which is only the second national vote since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in the US-led invasion of 2003. Along with Abu Risha and Bolani, the IUA's candidates include former defense minister Saadun al-Dulaimi, a secular Sunni.