Shiite party headquarters bombed
Sunni group pulls out of election
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 Video purportedly shows group behind mess hall attack in Mosul.
 The main Sunni party says it will not participate in the Iraqi elections in January, citing security concerns. CNN's Bruce Morton reports.
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A main Sunni Muslim political party withdrew from Iraq's upcoming elections on Monday, and a suicide bomb attack on the nation's largest Shiite party killed at least six people and wounded 33 others, police said.
The attack targeted the Baghdad headquarters of the Shiite group, the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, police said.
It missed the head of the Shiite party, Abd Al-Azziz Al-Hakim, who was home, police said.
Such Iraqi insurgent violence has prompted calls from many Iraqis to delay the elections, which are set for January 30.
The Iraqi Islamic Party, a leading voice of Iraq's minority Sunni Muslims, announced Monday it was pulling out of -- but not boycotting -- the elections.
In a statement, party director Tariq al-Hashimy said one reason for the withdrawal is "the need to provide the proper security conditions in order to hold an honest and free elections."
Iraqi voters are expected to choose a 275-member transitional national assembly. That body will put together a permanent constitution that will go before voters in a referendum. If the law is approved, there will be elections for a permanent government by the end of next year.
In addition to security concerns, confusion was cited by the Iraqi Islamic Party president as a reason for the pullout. "The security situation is getting worse day after day," said President Muhsin Abdul Hameed.
"The electoral commission is being vague and many of the Iraqi people don't understand the mechanism of the elections," he said. Election forms are not being distributed in some areas, Hameed added.
A party spokesman said, "We don't believe that elections held now will be 100 percent fair."
Sunni leaders have expressed concern about receiving enough future government positions to provide representation for their minority community. U.S. and interim Iraqi government officials have worked to try to convince Sunni leaders that it would have a clear place in a future Iraqi government.
The Sunni party's announcement and the attack on the Shiite party Monday came a day after a high-ranking member of the Democratic Al-Umma al-Iraqiya (Iraqi Nation) party was shot and killed in front of his house in Baghdad, party sources said.
In addition, Wijhad Al-Khuzaee, founder and chairwoman of the Women and Democracy Foundation, also was killed near her house in the capital, a Baghdad police source said Monday. Al-Kuzaee, a human rights activist, spoke to CNN last spring about her desire to become Iraq's first female president.
A voice claiming to be that of Osama bin Laden urged Iraqis to boycott the elections in an audio recording broadcast Monday by the Arabic-language television network Al-Jazeera. The voice on the recording also described Jordanian-born terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as his deputy in Iraq. The authenticity of the tape could not immediately be verified. (Full story)
A group thought to be led by al-Zarqawi has claimed responsibility for the killings of numerous Westerners in Iraq, including the slayings of two Americans and a Briton who were kidnapped in September. Al-Zarqawi also is believed to be responsible for the bombing of Baghdad's U.N. headquarters on August 19, 2003, that killed 22 civilians, including the U.N.'s chief envoy to Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello.
Other developments
A U.S. soldier was killed Monday and four others were wounded when an improvised explosive device detonated in Baghdad, the U.S. military said. No information was available about the condition of the wounded victims. The death brings the number of U.S. troops killed in the Iraq war to 1,326, including 1,044 in hostile action and 282 in nonhostile activities, according to the U.S. military. A five-minute video that appears to show members of a radical Islamist group preparing for and carrying out the attack last week on a U.S. military base in Mosul, Iraq, surfaced Sunday. CNN has not independently authenticated the video, purportedly from the group Jaish Ansar Al-Sunna. (Full story)Gunmen killed five Iraqi officials in what appeared to be three separate assassination attacks, sources said Sunday. Iraqi police officials and Ministry of Interior sources said Col. Yassin Ibrahim Jawad, a high-ranking police officer, was killed in southern Baghdad. On Saturday, in northern Baghdad, unknown gunmen killed two local council members in a drive-by shooting, Baghdad police said. In Taji, about 13 miles (20 kilometers) north of Baghdad, a third shooting killed a local council member and a relative.In Syniya, 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of Baghdad, 11 of 17 local council members resigned Sunday, said Brigadier Hassan Salah of the Samarra police. The resignations came a few days after council Chairman Hazim al-Bura was assassinated and a car bomb targeting the council exploded. No one was killed in the bombing.CNN's Arwa Damon, Auday Sadik, Nermeen Mufti, Mohammad Tawfeeq and Kevin Flower contributed to this report.
Copyright 2004 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
