American hostage 'beheaded' on video Sydney Morning Herald-- September 21, 2004 http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/09/21/1095651279954.html
Farther in, past the sensational part:
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The violence continued unabated. Assailants gunned down two Sunni clerics in predominantly Shi'ite areas of Baghdad in twin attacks against a powerful Muslim religious group that has emerged as a key representative of Iraq's fearful Sunni minority, killings likely designed to stoke ethnic violence in Iraq, officials said.
It was not immediately known who was behind the killings last night and today and there were no arrests, but religious leaders accused renegade militants bent on pitting Shi'ites and Sunnis against each other with the aim of taking advantage of ensuing chaos to strengthen their grip.
The two clerics belonged to the Association of Muslim Scholars, a grouping of conservative clerics that opposes the US presence in Iraq and has emerged as a powerful representative of Iraq's Sunni minority.
Gunmen shot and killed Sheik Mohammed Jadoa al-Janabi, a member of the association, as he entered a mosque in Baghdad's al-Baya neighbourhood to perform noon prayers today, the association said.
The killing came hours after the bullet-ridden body of another cleric, Sheik Hazem al-Zeidi, was found in the Shi'ite-dominated Baghdad slum of Sadr City, said Sheik Abdul-Sattar Abdul-Jabbar, a senior member of the group. He had been kidnapped late Sunday outside a Sadr City mosque.
"We do not accuse a specific person but we say that such acts are in the interest of the (American) occupation and some sectarian people who don't want to see Iraq stable," Abdul-Jabbar said.
At al-Zeidi's funeral today, Sunni and Shi'ite leaders prayed side-by-side at the mosque where he was taken and vowed not to let the murders drive a wedge between them. snip~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/09/21/1095651279954.html ===================================