Originally published Wednesday, February 21, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Suicide bomber strikes at funeral in Baghdad
Unlike so many deaths in this city these days, the passing of Ahmed Lami was remarkable not for its violent end but for its lack of bloodshed...
Los Angeles Times
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Unlike so many deaths in this city these days, the passing of Ahmed Lami was remarkable not for its violent end but for its lack of bloodshed: He died of natural causes, at age 65.
But even peaceful death has become a magnet for violence. As his Shiite Muslim family and friends gathered to mourn his passing Tuesday afternoon under a tent in a middle-class, religiously mixed neighborhood on Palestine Street, a suicide bomber walked in, sat down and detonated his explosives, killing at least seven people and injuring 21 others.
The funeral bombing was among several car bombings, shootings and explosions around Iraq on Tuesday that suggested insurgents are finding new ways to evade an ongoing security crackdown by U.S. and Iraqi forces.
At the Lami funeral, attendance was smaller than usual for such public events, because fear of death grips the capital. Lami's family even took precautions to guard against a car-bomb attack, blocking off entrances to the tent with a mini-bus and palm-tree trunks.
But the suicide bomber took advantage of common courtesies extended to individual attendees at such ceremonies, where food is served and strangers are welcome to partake.
"The suicide bomber came in and greeted us and sat down," said Lami's cousin, Sabur Abdul-Hussein, who suffered slight shrapnel wounds in the blast. "We thought he was poor, waiting for the feast to be served. We asked each other if someone might know him." After two minutes, Abdul-Hussein said, the stranger blew himself up.
Abdul-Hussein said his family began to feel safer when the new security plan was announced but now thinks the city is gripped by a violence that will not let go. Among the dead were two of Abdul-Hussein's brothers and five of his cousins.
"The scene was chaos; women came out from the deceased's house and started wailing and beating their chests," he said. "And there were my relatives' bodies, scattered and torn to pieces."
Copyright © The Seattle Times Company
NEW - 12:15 AM
A Bing deal for Microsoft, News Corp.?
NEW - 11:02 PM
Amazon, Wal-Mart escalate Web price war
NEW - 10:40 PM
8 charged in probe of terrorism-recruiting network in U.S.
Hate crimes against gays, religious groups up, FBI says
UPDATE - 12:11 AM
SC legislators begin Sanford impeachment hearings

PNW Magazine | Easy As Pie
A little friendly competition between professional pie-baker Kate McDermott and The Seatttle Times' Kathleen Triesch Saul is handled with great taste.
general classifieds
Garage & estate salesFurniture & home furnishings
Sporting goods
just listed
1 New Miller Safety Harness and 2 new shock absorb - $245
1960s Couch - $75
1ct Rd GIA Cert - $4600
More listings
POST A FREE LISTING
shopping
events for Tuesday, Nov. 24
- 5th Annual Urban Craft Uprising
- Bella Umbrella Holiday Sale
- Thanksgiving Weekend Sales at The Bravern
- Metropolitan Pilates Pre-Thanksgiving Sale
editors' picks
- Local jewelry designers
- Vintage, consignment and used clothing
- Independent bookstores
- Maternity shopping
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Tugboat sinks at Seattle waterfront pier
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
- Craigslist adoption ad: A plea by young mother-to-be? A scam?
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
- Woman stabbed by stranger in North Seattle
- Snow piles up on Cascade slopes
- Denny Triangle gains skyline, but tenants slow to come
- Illegal workers quietly let go
405 - Climate change speeds up since 1997 Kyoto accord
215 - Metro won't cut bus service after all
160 - New Husky recruit: Enes Kanter
105 - Bellevue residents blast new bikini espresso stand
91 - Middleton says Huskies "plan on scoring at least 50 points'' Saturday
86 - Tattoos at Mill Creek Church pierce skin, soul
85 - Seattle woman charged with knife attack on boyfriend's ex
76 - Jerry Brewer: Seahawks can't lean on the Hutch Crutch now
75 - Senate Democrats split on health bill's fate
58
- Sprouts, raw fish on attorney's 'do not eat' list
- Tattoos at Mill Creek church pierce skin, soul
- Food-safety lawyer's wish: Put me out of business
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Architects, chefs find 'kid' within to build Gingerbread Village
- Rediscovering Moab, 'the most beautiful place on Earth'
- It's possible to recover a life lost to hoarding
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Hutch gets $10M from Bezos family for immunotherapy research

