Bullet-riddled bodies found near Baghdad

Nine bullet-riddled bodies, including a Sunni Muslim tribal Sheikh, were found last night off a road southeast of Baghdad.

The Iraqi Army found the bodies near two burned minibuses in an open area off the road from Baghdad into Iraq's strife prone Diyala province, Diyala police said.

The victims included Sheikh Hamid Irbat Ghazi, of the influential Mahamdeh tribe, and two nephews, police said.

The killings followed a surge of sectarian attacks after the bombing of the golden domed mosque in Samarra.