Post-election violence in Iraq hits Sunnis who ran for office and their supporters

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Several bombs exploded Sunday near a house linked to a prominent Sunni figure who ran in this month's parliamentary elections in Iraq, killing five people and wounding 26 others, a police official said.

The attack adds to fears of postelection violence as the bitter election rivals enter what are expected to be drawn out talks on forming the next government that will rule Iraq as U.S. troops leave by the end of 2011.

Sunday's blasts took place in the town of Qaim, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) west of Baghdad and on the border with Syria, the police official said.

The first bomb, planted at a house under construction, went off at 7 a.m. in a busy area of Qaim. As onlookers gathered, four more bombs hidden in trash littered around the site detonated, causing the casualties.

In a worrying sign of the sectarian tensions the elections have stirred up, Sunni leader in a Baghdad neighborhood, Khalil al-Obaidi, who on Friday night celebrated Allawi's win by passing out candy to well-wishers was killed by a sniper Saturday morning, police and hospital officials said.

Later Sunday, a roadside bomb targeted an Iraqi army patrol in a Sunni neighborhood in western Baghdad, killing one soldier and wounding five others, police said.

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It's actually quite tragic, the Sunnis thought they were being disenfranchised, then they got mad, then they organized, they made alliances, they worked together, they campaigned, and then they won. Now, some of the victors are facing refusals to be seated by the Iraqi equivalent of the Iranian "Guardian Council", led by Chalabi, and after they were given the OK before the election. And others are just getting killed.