Third Briton dies after Iraq shooting

A third Briton is reported to have died after being shot while on a Muslim pilgrimage in Iraq.

Yahya Gulamali, 60, died in hospital overnight, after being injured when the minibus he was travelling in was ambushed by gunmen at a checkpoint in the Dora neighbourhood on Monday.

It is understood that he was treated in an Iraqi hospital, before being transferred to an American military hospital.

Two British men – Husain Mohammeddali, 50, from Harrow and Saifuddin Makai, 39, from Streatham – were killed yesterday, when the minibus they were travelling in was ambushed by gunmen at a checkpoint in the Dora neighbourhood.

An Iraqi, thought to be the driver of the vehicle, was also killed, while two other Britons were injured. They have been named as Ali Qaiyoom and Ms Zehra Jafferjee.

All of the group are understood to have belonged to the Hussaini Mosque in Northolt, west London.

The Foreign Office is investigating the incident. On Monday, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw repeated government advice for Britons to avoid travelling to Iraq.

However, Sir Iqbal Sacranie, general secretary of the Muslim Council of Great Britain, said that between 5,000 and 10,000 mainly Shia community members, made pilgrimages to Iraq from Britain every year.

An investigation is also continuing to discover the whereabouts of a British aid worker who was kidnapped in Iraq at the weekend.

Norman Kember, a retired professor in his ‘70s, from Pinner, north London, was kidnapped on Saturday, along with two Canadians and an American.

On Tuesday afternoon, a video broadcast on the al-Jazeera network, showed four western hostages being held by a previously unknown group, The Swords of Truth, who claim that the peace activists are spies. The video shows an elderly man with white hair, who is believed to be Mr Kember. His passport was also shown in the footage.

(KMcA/SP)