The killing of a Sunni politician and 12 other men have rekindled fears that extremists could be making inroads in Sunni enclaves as US troops withdraw from Iraq and the ranks of local paramilitary forces established by the Americans thin out.
Iraqi authorities said assailants wearing Iraqi army uniforms kidnapped the men on Sunday night from their homes in the villages of Abid and Khodeir Zaidan in the Abu Ghraib district. Hamid Salam Thamir, head of the Iraqi Islamic party in the area, was among those killed, officials said.
