The communist party, whose headquarters were targeted in a bombing, is allied to cleric Moqtada Al Sadr who won a resounding victory in elections. Karim Kadim / AP
The communist party, whose headquarters were targeted in a bombing, is allied to cleric Moqtada Al Sadr who won a resounding victory in elections. Karim Kadim / AP
The communist party, whose headquarters were targeted in a bombing, is allied to cleric Moqtada Al Sadr who won a resounding victory in elections. Karim Kadim / AP
The communist party, whose headquarters were targeted in a bombing, is allied to cleric Moqtada Al Sadr who won a resounding victory in elections. Karim Kadim / AP

Bombs target Iraq's communist party


  • English
  • Arabic

Two homemade bombs targeted the headquarters of the Iraqi Communist Party, which is part of an alliance with cleric Moqtada Al Sadr that won Iraq's parliamentary election, a party official and security sources said.

The explosive devices were hurled into the garden of the building in Baghdad on Friday and did not cause any casualties, said Jassim Helfi, a senior member of the party.

He described the incident as a message from those opposed to the Sairoon bloc's calls for reforms in Iraq. Sairoon has promised to end corruption and foreign interference in Iraq's affairs.

____________

Read more: 

____________

Mr Al Sadr scored a surprise victory in the election by promising better services and tapping growing resentment with Iran and what voters say is its support for a corrupt political elite.

The cleric himself cannot become prime minister because he did not run in the election, though his bloc's victory puts him in a position to have a strong say in negotiations on forming a new government.

Mr Al Sadr reached out to dispossessed Shiites and marginalised Sunnis, and restored links with Sunni neighbours while keeping Iran at bay.

The nationalist cleric's success could be a setback for Iran, which has steadily increased its influence in Iraq - its most important ally in the Middle East - since a US-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Before the election, Iran publicly stated it would not allow Mr Al Sadr's bloc to govern in Iraq, with which it shares a border.