Iraqi politician who supported cleric Muqtada Sadr is assassinated

Saleh Uqaili was a former spokesman and ranking member in the Sadr bloc, which has 30 seats in the Iraq's 275-member parliament. The killing came amid two weeks of increased violence across the country, including ambushes and suicide bombings that have killed dozens.

Uqaili, 41, was traveling in a convoy with other legislators when a bomb planted on a motorcycle exploded about 200 yards from an Iraqi army checkpoint at a walled entrance to the Sadr City neighborhood. Other reports indicated that the bomb may have been fastened to a manhole cover and detonated as the motorcycle and Uqaili's entourage drove by.

The lawmaker was taken to the hospital, where he died of his wounds, according to Sadr officials. One bodyguard and at least one bystander also died.

A university professor with five children, Uqaili was considered a moderate voice in Sadr's camp. The morning attack in a secured part of the city raised concerns that different factions among Shiites, including groups supported by Iran and the rival Badr Brigade, may be targeting one another ahead of next year's elections.

Baha Araji, a lawmaker from Sadr's bloc, blamed the Iraqi military for lapses in security and suggested that the assassins may have targeted Uqaili's convoy for two reasons: the bloc's opposition to renewing a security agreement that would prolong the stay of U.S. troops in the country, and a chance for enemies to weaken the bloc's representation in parliament in the upcoming elections.

"There will be a battle in the elections and this [killing] is indeed a liquidation," Araji told Al Arabiya TV. "We have warned that the Sadr movement has been targeted, especially in seats where they already hold office."

In a statement Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki said: "We reaffirm our determination to get at the hotbeds of terrorism and crime and [to] arrest and prosecute the killers and bring them to justice."

Sadr, who is believed to be in Iran, has ordered his Mahdi Army militia to stop battling American troops. The decision was a big reason for the overall drop in violence in recent months. Sadr City, one of Baghdad's poorest neighborhoods, was the scene of many battles between Sadr forces and U.S. and Iraqi troops. It was targeted in the U.S.-led "surge," when additional American troops were sent into Iraq in early 2007, and has been walled off to contain militants.

In other developments today, a bomb exploded near a minibus in Baqubah, about 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, killing a Sunni militiaman who belonged to the Awakening movement that had worked with American troops against Islamic militants. His wife, daughter and son were also killed.

A bomb detonated near a restaurant in Tall Afar, killing two people, including a police officer.

jeffrey.fleishman@latimes.com

Times staff writer Raheem Salman and a special correspondent contributed to this report.