Karbala

Ex-Baathist assassinated in Iraq

Ex-Baathist assassinated in IraqKarbala, Iraq - A former leading member of the Iraqi Baath Party was fatally shot on Friday, police said.

Gunmen killed Sami Jadua and his brother in the heavily Shiite city of Karbala, roughly 120 kilometres south of Baghdad, police in Karbala told the German Press Agency dpa on Friday.

The Iraqi government, which today is dominated by Shiite Muslims and Kurds, has recently begun reaching out to former members of the Baath Party, now banned under the Iraqi constitution, as part of a "national reconciliation" process.

Tourists return to southern Iraqi city's ancient sites

Tourists return to southern Iraqi city's ancient sites Karbala, Iraq  - In a sign of improved security, a European tour group visited antiquities and monuments near the southern Iraqi city of Karbala, the city's tourism authority said on Tuesday.

The group, which included British, Russian and other European tourists, visited archaeological sites near Karbala, was the first of its kind to visit Karbala in "many long years," according to Karbala's tourism authority.