By IINA
Baghdad : A suicide bomber killed yesterday at least 15 people and wounded eight when he blew himself up during a funeral for a policeman north of Baghdad, officials said. The suicide attack occurred in Sadiyah, a town 95 km north of Baghdad in the volatile Diyala province, where US and Iraqi forces are still battling Sunni extremists of Al-Qaeda. Police said the bomber mingled among the mourners and then triggered an explosive vest.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki ordered a nationwide freeze on raids against suspected Shiite militants after the leader of the biggest militia complained that arrests of his followers were continuing despite his order to pull his fighters off the streets. Al-Maliki’s statement did not give a time frame for the freeze nor refer to the Mahdi Army of Shiite cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr.
The statement said only that the freeze was designed to give a chance to “those who repented and want to lay down their arms.” “Those who lay down their arms and participated in the recent acts of violence will not be prosecuted,” the statement said.