Especially besieged are Shiite Baathists who live in predominantly Shiite or mixed Sunni-Shiite
neighborhoods, where targets are more accessible than in homogenous Sunni strongholds. Militiamen have
demanded that former Baathists fly white flags to atone for their party membership and let their
neighbors know they’ve renounced their pasts. Those who refuse often end up dead.
"They’re doing it in Shiite neighborhoods because it’s easier," said Mishan Jubouri, a prominent
former Baathist who was one of the few Sunni Arabs elected to the new Parliament. "I know a lot of
Shiite Baath Party members who have had to escape to Ramadi or Mosul or Tikrit," mostly Sunni
territories.
There’s been little or no investigation into any of the assassinations, the slain men’s relatives
said. Not that they need an investigation to place blame: The families staunchly believe that Shiite
militias are behind the killings.
The assassination squads are widely believed to be from the Badr Brigade, the armed wing of the Supreme
Council for Islamic Revolution in MBT SHOES, the country’s most influential Shiite political party and
the biggest winner in the elections.
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