Suicide bomber kills deputy head of Iraq Sunni party

A suicide bomber killed the deputy leader of Iraq's second-biggest Sunni Arab political bloc on Sunday as he and other politicians met to discuss an upcoming provincial election, the party's leader said. Hassan Zaidan al-Lihebi, deputy leader of the Iraqi National Dialogue Front, was killed by a suicide bomber who stormed his house, shot at guards and blew himself up in a crowded reception room, Saleh al-Mutlaq, the party's leader, told Reuters. "The suicide bomber opened fire on the guards and entered the house. They tried to stop him but they didn't manage to do that before he got near Hassan and blew himself up," Mutlaq said. "The information that I have is just that he was killed and many others were wounded." Police sources said between one and four other people were also killed, including a policeman, in the attack in the town of Qaiyara, south of the northern city of Mosul. The sectarian violence that killed tens of thousands in Iraq after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion has fallen dramatically in recent months, but suicide and car bombs remain common. Mosul and surrounding Nineveh province have remained the most volatile part of Iraq. Militant Sunni groups such as al Qaeda, who often use suicide bombs, have made a stand in the area after being driven out of most of the rest of Iraq. The province has also seen tension ahead of the Jan. 31 provincial election between its large Sunni Arab population -- who boycotted previous polls -- and ethnic Kurds who control the current provincial council despite being a minority. U.S. officials say they fear attacks generally could pick up across the country in the run-up to the vote, which will pick local councils that in turn elect powerful provincial governors. It will be the first ballot fully organized and supervised by Iraqi authorities since the invasion. A former general under Saddam Hussein, Lihebi was not himself running as a candidate, Mutlaq said. But he led the party's campaign in Mosul, and some of the others in the room when the blast occurred were candidates. The Iraqi National Dialogue Front is the second-biggest Sunni Arab bloc and one of the most vocal Sunni Arab groupings in the Iraqi parliament. Sunni Arabs dominated Iraq under Saddam but the country's Shi'ite Muslim majority has been in charge since the U.S. military invaded.