Gunmen in a speeding car opened fire Saturday on two sisters working as translators for the British consulate, killing one of them and seriously injuring the other, police said. The two women were walking near their house in central Basra when they were shot, police said, according to the AP.
Elsewhere, gunmen shot dead the Shiite owner of a bakery and a policemen in separate incidents Saturday in western Baghdad, police said.
Meanwhile, Iraq's prime minister urged hundreds of tribal leaders Saturday to join his attempts to end sectarian strife and terrorism, warning that American troops are unlikely to withdraw from the country until Iraqis unite.
"Brothers, the national reconciliation is a wide door, open to all those who want to take part in rebuilding the country," Nouri al-Maliki said at the first of four conferences planned across Iraq by his new national reconciliation committee. "Liberating the country from any foreign existence and controlling the enemies can't be achieved without a real national unity among Iraqis and this is the role for our tribes," said al-Maliki.
"These tribes have to play a significant role in fighting terrorists, saboteurs and infiltrators," he told the leaders, most of them wearing checkered headscarfs. Others wore suits or loose Kurdish trousers.
"Yes to unity, yes to Iraq," some tribal chiefs chanted between speeches. "We are all brothers in this country."
"Iraq, at this stage, needs all its sons. There is no difference among Kurds, Arabs and Turkomen, Muslims or Christians, Sunnis or Shiites," al-Maliki said. "That doesn't mean that we don't have different opinions, but we have to rely on dialogue not weapons."
