On the streets of Baghdad, a name can carry a death sentence. And among the city’s frightened Sunni minority, one name — Omar — is more dangerous than any other.
Bodies dumped around the city arrive every day at the central morgue. On Wednesday and Thursday, the total was 41. Most have been shot; usually once, in the front of the head. Among those identified, the names offer a telling clue to the reasons for their murder. Omar is by far the most common.
“They are targeting the names,” said a clinical pathologist at the morgue, a weary-looking figure with sad eyes who asked for his name to be withheld. “Only Sunnis have these names.”
For the Shia militia bent on sectarian vengeance at a