Occupation Iraq: Who Killed Riyadh al-Nuri?

When one considers that Muqtada's father and brothers were murdered by Hussein's henchmen, how has he been "liberated" by Bush, readers?

And CUI BONO from this atrocity?

"Gunmen Kill Aide to Shiite Cleric in Iraq"

"A senior aide to the radical anti-American cleric Moktada al-Sadr was assassinated as he returned home from Friday prayers in Najaf, raising the likelihood that tensions would climb still higher between Mr. Sadr’s loyalists and the Iraqi government forces they have been battling....

So who do you think did it, readers?

Israeli-Trained Death Squads?

Salvador Option Soldiers?

Special Police Commandos?

Proactive, Preemptive Operations Group?

FRU?

Mr. Nuri, who was related to Mr. Sadr by marriage, was killed in al-Adala neighborhood, half a mile east of Najaf, when unknown gunmen ambushed him outside his house and opened fire, killing him instantly....

Blackwater gunmen?

Mr. Nuri’s sister is married to Mr. Sadr’s brother.... Mr. Sadr’s spokesman Salah al-Obeidi urged the cleric’s followers to be calm and “not to be dragged into others’ plots,” the Associated Press reported.

Within an hour of the killing, a rocket, apparently fired at the Green Zone, struck the Palestine Hotel in central Baghdad.... Hotel officials, guards and neighbors initially said no-one was injured in Friday’s attack, saying the missile punched through a foot of concrete and destroyed a first floor room on the east side of the hotel. But police later claimed that three people had been killed.

Does the U.S. MSM ever keep that stuff quiet, huh?

I know the Times mentions it, but you gotta look for it!

Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s office issued a statement condemning the killing of Mr. Nuri and ordered an investigation....

Translation: The fox will investigate the chicken coop.

"Slaying of Sadr aide heightens worry"

"by Amit R. Paley, Washington Post | April 12, 2008

BAGHDAD - .... US-led coalition air strikes Thursday night killed six people in both Basra and the Sadr City neighborhood in Baghdad, the US military said.

Nouri, the head of the Sadr office in Najaf, was shot in front of his house by two gunmen driving a Toyota about 3 p.m. as he returned from Friday prayers in the city of Kufa, according to Colonel Ali Nomas Jerao, a spokesman for Iraqi security forces in Najaf.

"The occupier has a hand in this crime in one way or another," Sadr said in statements released by his aides. "I pledge before God and before the people that I won't forget this precious blood. The occupier won't feel happiness in our land as long as I'm alive."

Major Brad Leighton, a US military spokesman, said the American-led coalition had no involvement in the assassination. "It's a ridiculous, bogus allegation," he said....

Is it? Is it really?

Less than an hour after the killing, a Katyusha rocket slammed into the Palestine Hotel in central Baghdad, home to several Western news organizations...."

Oh, that's why it was reported in the AmeriKan press!

American diplomats will begin moving into their new, heavily fortified embassy in Baghdad next month after long delays in the $736 million project....."

Nice that the government could find the money for the biggest "embassy" -- read: military outpost -- in the world while Americans can't get health care or foreclosure help!

Update:

"13 Militants Killed in Sadr City Clashes"

"BAGHDAD (AP) -- Shiite militants fought U.S. and Iraqi forces around Baghdad's Shiite district of Sadr City early Saturday despite a call for calm by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr following the assassination of one of his top aides.

At least 13 Shiite militants died in the clashes, which erupted Friday night and tapered off early Saturday, the U.S. military said. Iraqi police reported seven civilians were killed as a result of the fighting between U.S and government troops and al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia....

In Sadr City, a U.S. statement said American soldiers used Abrams main battle tanks and drone-fired Hellfire missiles in support of troops who came under sniper and rocket attack while trying to erect concrete barriers in the area.

Two armored vehicles were damaged by at least 10 roadside bombs that exploded during the operation, but there were no casualties among the U.S. and Iraqi soldiers, the military said.

The U.S. said a total of 13 extremists were killed in the various encounters.

Iraqi police and hospital officials said the seven civilians died in one of the Hellfire missile strikes....

According to officials in Sadr City, Sadrist militiamen received instructions from the movement's headquarters in Najaf on Friday to avoid confrontations with Iraqi and U.S. forces, and not to fire on them unless they attempted to penetrate deep into Sadr City....

Army patrols used loudspeakers to warn residents to keep off the streets, saying the rebels had planted roadside bombs which needed to be cleared by the security forces....

In the southern port of Basra, Iraq's second largest city, the Iraqi army said it had started carrying out ''the second phase of operations'' by conducting a sweep of the city's Qibla district, looking for illegal weapons, ammunition and wanted criminals."

I thought there was supposed to be some kind of truce in place.

The MSM's lying reason not to cover it, right?

It's not on my T.V. screen.

Of course, my television isn't on, but...