Sunni group demands action as body count surges

" Sunni Arab political leaders said on Apr. 13 that nearly 90 Sunnis had been reported abducted or killed in the previous two days by groups with possible ties to the nation's Shiite Muslim-led Interior Ministry forces. In one incident, up to 25 men just released from detention were reportedly whisked away by gunmen in SUVs. The Sunnis also allege that 20 corpses turned up in Baghdad, all people reportedly abducted by security forces on the morning of Apr. 4. The facts remain sketchy and difficult to confirm, and the political groups making the claims previously exaggerated figures and accounts. Two ranking members of Iraq's security forces said they knew nothing about the fresh reports of abductions and deaths. But the accusations, broadcast over radio stations and posted on political websites, likely will further inflame tensions between Iraq's Sunni minority and Shiite majority. The reports come as each group's political leaders try to depict the other side as carrying out sectarian violence in an attempt to gain leverage in the country's power struggle. "We swear that after today, denouncing and condemning is not enough, and tongues that speak will not be pleased unless hands take action after the new tremendous crime committed by security apparatuses, a crime that shakes consciences, wets eyes and wakes from sleep," said a statement by the Muslim Scholars Association, a leading Sunni clerical group. The 20 bodies found in recent days were mostly Sunnis said by their relatives and morgue officials to be found scattered around Baghdad. The victims were among 63 people allegedly abducted in a morning Iraqi police raid on Apr. 4 in Dora, according to the statement issued by the Muslim Scholars Association.