15 killed in bombing at Sunni mosque in Baghdad

The plaza in front of Baghdad's famous Abu Hanifa mosque in the Adhamiyah district has lately been a place of joyous celebration and worship. On Sunday evening it was a scene of terror, as a suicide bomber struck a crowded street in front of the mosque.

Police and witnesses said the blast killed 15 people and wounded 29 others. Among the dead was Faruq Abdul Sattar, a deputy commander of Adhamiyah's Sunni Awakening Council, the U.S.-backed local force that guards the neighborhood, which is a Sunni stronghold.

Witnesses said the bomber, a man, may have been riding a motorcycle that was parked about 65 feet from a traffic light on the street.

Sattar, a popular figure in the neighborhood who was known by the nickname Abu Omar, was standing on the median that divided the street with a group of other Awakening Council members when the bomb went off, witnesses said.

"Abu Omar is gone! Abu Omar is gone!" many in the crowd shouted when Omar's torn body was identified by a silver ring he wore on his right hand and the distinctive green pattern of his uniform.

An Awakening Council official confirmed that the explosives were detonated by a male suicide bomber. The victims included other Awakening Council members and some civilians.

Adhamiyah, once the site of fierce fighting between insurgents and American and Iraqi forces, has been quieter in recent months. Last spring, thousands of people, drawn by the reduced levels of violence, gathered at the Abu Hanifa mosque for the first time in years to celebrate the Prophet Muhammad's birthday.

Also Sunday, The Washington Post reported that half a dozen Blackwater Worldwide security guards have gotten target letters from the Justice Department in a probe of shootings in Baghdad last year that killed 17 Iraqis.

The Post described the six guards as former U.S. military personnel but did not identify them by name.

Attributing its information to three sources close to the case, the Post said that any charges would be brought against the six guards under a federal law used to prosecute cases referred to the Justice Department by the Pentagon for crimes committed by military personnel and contractors overseas.