Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    FALLUJAH, Iraq, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- A suicide bomber blew himself up among worshippers at a mosque in the city of Fallujah in west of Baghdad on Monday night, killing at least nine people and wounding 11 others, local police said.

    "A suicide bomber wearing an explosive-belt blew himself after the evening prayers in the al-Raqib mosque in northern the city of Fallujah, some 50 km west of Baghdad," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    The attack occurred at about 9:30 p.m. local time (1730 GMT) when the suicide bomber entered the office of the mosque Imam, Abdul Sattar al-Jumaili, killing him, his son and seven worshippers, along with wounding 11 people at the scene, the source added.

    Jumaili was an opponent for the al-Qaida in Iraq network and was a target for the group's death squads, the source said.

    Al-Qaida's adherence to a hardline form of Sunni Islam and indiscriminate killings has brought it into conflicts with some Sunni tribes in the province of Anbar, where Fallujah is located.