Gunmen Assassinate Brother of Iraq VP

Relatives carry the coffin with the remains of Gen. Amir al-Hashimi, the brother of Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi and an adviser to the Defense Ministry, during his funeral in Baghdad Monday Oct. 9, 2006. Al-Hashimi was killed by gunmen who entered his north Baghdad home wearing military uniforms Monday. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed ) (Khalid Mohammed - AP)

"We say to the government, you still did not disarm the militias," Salim Abdullah Tawfiq, a Sunni politician, said in a statement read in parliament. "And here is what it has led to."

Al-Maliki condemned Monday's killing as an "ugly, terrorist crime."

Al-Hashimi's brother, Lt. Gen. Amir al-Hashimi, a Defense Ministry adviser, was slain when gunmen wearing military uniforms broke into his north Baghdad home, al-Moussawi said.

The gunmen also abducted six of the general's guards and a neighbor _ who is also an official in Tariq al-Hashimi's Iraqi Islamic Party, according to party officials.

The vice president already has lost two other siblings in violence: His sister and another brother were killed within two weeks of each other in April, both in shootings in the Iraqi capital.

Two militiamen were arrested in the slaying of al-Hashimi's sister, but the government did not say to which militia they belonged. Al-Hashimi has one other brother, who is believed to be living abroad.

Tariq al-Hashimi heads the Iraqi Islamic Party, the biggest Sunni Arab party in parliament and part of the Accordance Front, a Sunni bloc. The Sunnis joined in al-Maliki's government alongside Shiite parties _ including that of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, which heads the Mahdi Army.

But that national unity government is showing deep strains amid the Shiite-Sunni killings that have bloodied Baghdad for months, with thousands killed and victims' bodies often dumped bound and tortured in the river or streets of the capital.

Shiites accuse Sunni parties of links to insurgents who have targeted Shiites in deadly bomb attacks for the past three years. They insist militias are needed to protect their community because the national security forces cannot.

On Monday, a car bomb detonated in Shaab, a mainly Shiite district of Baghdad, soon after the evening's iftar meal. The blast killed 10 people and wounded 23, said Abdul-Karim Khalaf, an Interior Ministry spokesman. It was the deadliest attack on a day when at least 18 Iraqis were killed around the country.

In western Baghdad, the Iraqi army arrested an al-Qaida in Iraq suspect identified as Sabah Ireimit al-Issawi, according to the Defense Ministry. It said the man is a high-ranking member of the terror group but did not provide further details.

In other developments:

_ An audio interview with the purported spokesman for the Islamic Army in Iraq was posted on an Islamic Web site. Ibrahim al-Shammari said the insurgent group is capable of fighting for a dozen years, but isn't opposed to negotiations with the United States. Its authenticity could not be confirmed, but the site it was posted on is known for its access to militant groups.

_ Khalil al-Rifai, a comedian and actor who entertained Iraqis for more than five decades, died Monday from kidney failure in the northern Kurdish city of Irbil. He was 79.