An Iraqi journalist said on Monday gunmen went on a killing spree in his Baghdad home, murdering seven children and four adult relatives. Dia al-Kawwaz, editor of Internet website Shabeqat Akhbar al-Iraq (Network of Iraqi News), said militiamen sprayed his relatives with bullets after storming into his house on Sunday.
"Four gunmen entered my family house in Shab area. Two of my sisters, their husbands and seven children between five and 10 years old were killed yesterday (Sunday) morning," Kawwaz told AFP on Monday. He accused Shiite militiamen of carrying out the killings, saying they "stormed the house when the family was having breakfast".
According to the report on his news website, which is known for its strong stance against the US military occupation of Iraq, the gunmen bombed the house after killing the family members.
In other violence Monday, at least two people died in separate drive-by shootings by gunmen on motorcycles in the predominantly Shiite city of Kut, police said.
Meanwhile, Shiite legislators on Monday denounced a draft bill to ease curbs on ex-Saddam Hussein loyalists in government services, the AP reported. The debate over rehabilitating former members of Saddam's ruling Baath Party has been a major obstacle to the ability of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government to bring minority Sunnis into the political process.
Parliament started the debate on the latest version of the measure on Sunday. But the session adjourned after lawmakers loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr began pounding their fists on their tables in protest.
"The justice system has to have its say in this. There are Baathists who committed crimes and atrocities against the Iraqi people and those must be tried," Bahaa al-Araji, a lawmaker from al-Sadr's 30-member bloc, said Monday at a news conference.
"We have to first compensate the families of those who were killed and imprisoned by those Baathists and then discuss the law," he said.
