Prominent Iraqi Sunni fighter sentenced to death

A U.S.-backed Sunni militia leader whose arrest provoked violence between Sunni fighters and forces of Iraq's Shi'ite-led government has been sentenced to death for murder and kidnapping, a court spokesman said on Thursday. Adil al-Mashhadani, who controlled part of east Baghdad's crime-ridden al-Fadhil neighbourhood, is one of thousands of Sunni insurgents who now back U.S. forces after turning against al Qaeda. The arrest of some of them after they switched sides has sparked anger among so-called "Sahwa" members, who fear the Shi'ite-led government is out to get them for crimes committed in their insurgent pasts. Three people were killed and 15 wounded in clashes between Iraqi security forces and Mashhadani supporters when he was arrested in March.