40,000 Sunnis killed in Iraq during al-Jaafari’s tenure – report

Iran Focus: London, Apr. 06 – A prominent Iraqi Sunni politician said that some 40,000 Iraqi Sunni Muslims had been killed in sectarian fighting in Iraq since Ibrahim Jaafari took office as Prime Minister. Iran Focus

London, Apr. 06 – A prominent Iraqi Sunni politician said that some 40,000 Iraqi Sunni Muslims had been killed in sectarian fighting in Iraq since Ibrahim Jaafari took office as Prime Minister.

“During the time Ibrahim Jaafari has been Prime Minister, 40,000 Iraqi Sunnis have been killed”, Sheikh Hareth al-Zari, secretary general of the Association of Muslim Scholars, told the popular satellite channel al-Jazeera on Wednesday.

Al-Jaafari heads the Islamic Dawa Party, a Shiite group which has close ties to Iran.

In November, United States forces uncovered a secret prison in Baghdad run by the Shiite-dominated Iraqi Interior Ministry where some 170 Sunni Arabs were being tortured. The centre was purportedly being run with the assistance of Iranian intelligence commanders.

Sunni groups have accused Tehran of trying to flare sectarian strife between Iraqi Shiites and Sunnis.