Men in Iraqi army uniforms behead anti-al-Qaida cleric, place his head on electricity pole

Men in uniform behead anti-al-Qaida cleric in Iraq

BAGHDAD — An Iraqi police official says assailants wearing Iraqi military uniforms beheaded a Sunni cleric and displayed his head on an electricity pole in the town where he preached against al-Qaida.

The police official says four gunmen stormed the house of Abdullah Jassim Shakour Monday morning and beheaded him in the town of Sadiyah, north of Baghdad.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

The cleric’s son Mohammed says the gunmen took his father into a room, killed him and walked away with his head.

Despite the killing last month of al-Qaida in Iraq’s two top leaders in a U.S.-assisted military operation, attacks blamed on the group have continued.