Photo: AFP

A suicide bomber on Tuesday killed an Iraqi Member of Parliament (MP), a Sunni Muslim, in the town of Fallujah, west of Baghdad. Police said the attacker rushed in and hugged Efam al-Esawi before activating the explosive on his body. Esawi, a member of the Iraqiya bloc, was visiting a road under construction in southern Fallujah. The attack killed 4 security men and 2 civilians and wounded 6 other people. The assassination happened just two days after Finance Minister Rafa al-Essawi, also a Sunni and Iraqiya member, was almost killed in an assassination attempt targeting his convoy. These attacks have aggravated tensions between the Sunnis and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s government which is mainly Shi’ite. Sunnis accuse the government of abusing power and using anti-terrorism laws to arrest Sunni members.