Iraq PM steps up hunt for killers of Sabean jewellers
-
Iraq PM steps up hunt for killers of Sabean jewellers
BAGHDAD, April 22, 2009 (AFP) - Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Wednesday ordered the hunt to be stepped up for the gunmen behind the deadly robberies of two jewellery shops run by Iraq's tiny Sabean minority.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki (Photo: AFP/Ahmad al-Rubaye)
The prime minister has "ordered greater efforts to be made to arrest the criminals behind the attack on civilians that led to the deaths of three Sabean goldsmiths," Maliki's office said.The attacks in which a total of seven people were killed took place on Sunday in western Baghdad.
Security forces have arrested four of those behind the robberies, Major General Qassim Atta, the Baghdad security spokesman, told AFP, adding that others suspects were on the run.
The Sabeans, who specialise as goldsmiths, are a dwindling community in Iraq. Their numbers have fallen from 35,000 before the 2003 US-led invasion to just 7,000-8,000, according to the sect's leader, Sheikh Sattar Jabbar al-Hulu.
Also known as Mandaeans, the Sabeans traditionally speak a variety of Aramaic, the language of Christ. They call Adam their prophet and revere John the Baptist.
They trace their roots to pre-Christian times.