Shiite Official Targeted as Iraq Attacks Kill Two

Bombings in Iraq, including one targeting the deputy head of a Shiite religious foundation, killed two people and wounded five on Monday, officials said.

Sami al-Massudi, the deputy head of the Shiite endowment which oversees Shiite religious sites in Iraq, said a roadside bomb hit his convoy at about 12:15 pm (0915 GMT) in the Saidiyah area of south Baghdad.

Massudi said the bomb, which wounded three of his bodyguards, hit the middle vehicle in his convoy.

The attack came on the same day that employees found a threatening letter in the central Baghdad headquarters of the endowment, which was destroyed in a suicide car bombing on June 4 that killed 25 people.

"We say to the Safavid rejecters (Shiites) that this is a first letter that you received with the color and smell of blood, and the sound that will make you deaf, and what is coming, with God's permission, will be much stronger," the letter said, according to Massudi, who added it was "signed by Al-Qaeda."

On Wednesday, 72 people were killed in a wave of attacks across Iraq that were claimed by Al-Qaeda, some of which targeted Shiites, a majority in the country.

And on Saturday, 32 people were killed in two car bombings against Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad.

Also on Monday, a roadside bomb targeted a police patrol in Baquba, north of Baghdad, killing one policeman and wounding two others, and a shepherd was killed by a roadside bomb east of the city, a police lieutenant colonel said.

Dr Ahmed Ibrahim of Baquba General Hospital said the facility had received two bodies and two other people who were wounded.

Violence in Iraq has declined dramatically since its peak in 2006-2007, but attacks remain common, especially in the capital. A total of 132 Iraqis were killed in violence in May, according to official figures.