Iraq death squads target Sunni victims by name

The murder rate has jumped by 20 per cent in recent weeks as sectarian tensions have risen
The murder rate has jumped by 20 per cent in recent weeks as sectarian tensions have risen

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