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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Sunni chiefs killed in Iraq blast | Sunni chiefs killed in Iraq blast |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| Five Sunni Arab tribal leaders have been killed in a suicide attack in Iraq's Diyala province, police say. | Five Sunni Arab tribal leaders have been killed in a suicide attack in Iraq's Diyala province, police say. |
| A suicide bomber detonated his explosives belt in the house of Sheikh Faez al-Obeidi, killing him and four of his relatives. | A suicide bomber detonated his explosives belt in the house of Sheikh Faez al-Obeidi, killing him and four of his relatives. |
| Those killed were members of the Diyala Salvation Council, a group opposed to the presence of al-Qaeda militants in the province, north-east of Baghdad. | Those killed were members of the Diyala Salvation Council, a group opposed to the presence of al-Qaeda militants in the province, north-east of Baghdad. |
| Ten others were wounded in the blast, which happened near the town of Khalis. | Ten others were wounded in the blast, which happened near the town of Khalis. |
| Diyala province, home to a mixture of Sunnis and Shias, has become a key battleground in the struggle to drive al-Qaeda from Iraq. | Diyala province, home to a mixture of Sunnis and Shias, has become a key battleground in the struggle to drive al-Qaeda from Iraq. |
| Until a few months ago, al-Qaeda in Iraq and other Sunni Arab insurgent groups in the province fought together against Iraqi government and US-led forces. | Until a few months ago, al-Qaeda in Iraq and other Sunni Arab insurgent groups in the province fought together against Iraqi government and US-led forces. |
| Reprisals | |
| But increasing numbers of the militants' former allies in the Sunni community have turned against them, mainly because they dislike the austere form of Islam that they practise. | But increasing numbers of the militants' former allies in the Sunni community have turned against them, mainly because they dislike the austere form of Islam that they practise. |
| The US has provided them with training and arms. | |
| The uprising began in the troubled Anbar province, once a stronghold of the Sunni insurgency, but has since spread to Diyala province and some areas of Baghdad. | The uprising began in the troubled Anbar province, once a stronghold of the Sunni insurgency, but has since spread to Diyala province and some areas of Baghdad. |
| It has not gone without reprisal. Attacks have been carried out against a number of al-Qaeda Sunni figures. | |
| The leader of the Anbar Awakening, Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, was killed in a bomb attack near his home in Ramadi in September. | |
| A senior member of the Salahuddin Awakening Council, Sheikh Muawiya Jebara, was killed by a roadside bomb along with three of his bodyguards in October. | |
| A Sunni religious leader who encouraged his community to confront al-Qaeda in Iraq, Sheikh Yunis al-Tai, was also killed by a blast at his home in Diyala province in August. |