Special to WorldTribune.com

BAGHDAD — Iraq, mired in political stalemate, fears that Cabinet
ministers and senior officials would become targets of Sunni and Shi’ite
militias.

Officials and parliamentarians agreed that Iraq’s political stalemate
regarding Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki could spark another civil war. They
said threats against leading politicians and commanders were increasing over
the last month.

“Iraq is undergoing a serious crisis, and everyone taking into account
its impact on the streets,” Iraqi parliamentarian Abdul Khader Al Taher said.

[On late June 10, at least seven people were killed in a mortar attack
on a Shi’ite mosque in Baghdad. At least two Iranians were identified among the casualties.]

Officials said Al Qaida as well as other militias were preparing to
assassinate senior officials and commanders. They said these groups sought to exploit the political tension in Baghdad to foment civil war between Shi’ites and Sunnis.

“Terrorist groups are trying to use the crisis to play the sectarian
card through violence,” another parliamentarian, Saad Mutalibi, said.

Earlier this month, the Iraq Army reported the capture of several suspects in an alleged plot to assassinate senior politicians and officials. The Army said the suspects accumulated weapons from military and police units.

The latest victims of the assassination campaign have been identified as
a colonel in the Civil Defense Directorate, a police officer and a deputy
speaker of parliament. In all the attacks, assailants used light weapons
fitted with silencers.

The Iraq Army has returned to Baghdad amid the threat of another
assassination campaign. The Army decided to deploy a brigade in wake of a
decision to hand over security responsibility for Baghdad to the Interior
Ministry.

“The fall of the government will lead to civil war,” Lubna Karim, a
parliamentarian and ally of Al Maliki, said.

  Abdul Khader Al Taher, Al Qaida, Civil Defense Directorate, Iraqi officials fear political stalemate invites assassinations, Nouri Al Maliki, plot to assassinate senior officials, Sunni and Shi’ite militias