Sunni lawmaker assassinated at Baghdad mosque

A 15-year-old boy approached Harith al-Obaidi, 47, in the al-Shawaf mosque in the Yarmouk neighborhood and shot him several times, Iraqi police said.

A gun battle ensued, in which the teenage gunman and three others died and 12 people were wounded, police said.

Accounts vary as to whether the gunman entered the mosque and shot al-Obaidi there, or whether the shooting began just outside the building. There were also unconfirmed reports that a grenade exploded during the attack.

The Interior Ministry says al-Qaida in Iraq is to blame for the killing of the Sunni lawmaker. 

The announcement comes as Iraqi leaders attended a funeral service Saturday in a show of solidarity for Harith al-Obeidi.

The funeral was held at Baghdad's Convention Center. During the funeral, which was broadcast on all of Iraq's television stations, lawmakers vowed the killing would not set back security gains in Iraq.

"His assassination is an attempt to embarrass al-Maliki's government, the reconciliation project and renew the chaos and turmoil of the past," said Sheik Kheir-Allah al-Basri, a Shiite lawmaker.

In two other attacks yesterday, one in Baghdad and the other northeast of the capital, three people, including a teenage girl, were killed and 11 wounded, two days after Iraq's bloodiest attack since May 20.