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Iraqis Hold Funerals for Suicide Bomb Victims


People pray at funeral of Assad Abdul-Razaq at Um al-Qura mosque in Baghdad, Iraq, August 29, 2011
People pray at funeral of Assad Abdul-Razaq at Um al-Qura mosque in Baghdad, Iraq, August 29, 2011

Iraqis are holding funerals for some of the 28 people killed in Sunday's suicide bomb attack at the largest Sunni mosque in Baghdad.

A mosque official said Monday the bomber had disguised himself as a bandaged beggar and had gone to the blue-domed Um al-Qura mosque for a number of days to become familiar to the guards. He said the bomber hid explosives in his bandages and detonated them during a special prayer service for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Interior Ministry officials said Sunni lawmaker Khalid al-Fahdawi, a representative from western Anbar Province, was among those killed in the blast.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, which came just days before the end of Ramadan.

At least four more people died in other Iraq violence Sunday.

Violence has decreased in Iraq since its peak in 2006 and 2007, but attacks remain common.

In the northern city of Mosul, an explosive device attached to a police car killed a policeman and wounded four others, while in the ethnically mixed city of Baquba, militants killed three people in a car at a fake checkpoint.

In Baghdad, two additional bomb attacks wounded at least four people. Another bomb blast wounded two people in the town of Tuz Khurmatu, some 175 kilometers north of Baghdad.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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