(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Deputy Justice Minister Busho Ibrahim said that Yusri Fakhir, who was convicted early this year of the bombing on the al-Askari shrine in the city of Samarra, was executed Wednesday in Baghdad. Ten other people — one Egyptian and nine Iraqis — also were executed on unrelated terrorism convictions, Ibrahim said.
The Samarra shrine is revered because it contains the tombs of the 10th and 11th Shia Imams. Both are venerated by Shiites as direct descendants of the Prophet Mohammed (s.a.w.w) and inheritors of his leadership mantle.
The shrine also marks the birthplace of the 12th Shia Imam, known as the Mahdi (a.t.f.s).
In February 2006 the golden dome was destroyed in an attack that did not kill or wound anyone but disfigured the city's skyline and sparked violence.
The two minarets were destroyed in a second bombing in June 2007.
The massive golden dome, about 20 metres (66 feet) high and with a diameter of 68 metres (223 feet), was built in 1905 and covered with 72,000 gold tiles.
Shiites consider the Mahdi (a.t.f.s) the "hidden imam," a messianic figure who disappeared but will one day return, signifying the Day of Judgment.
Also Thursday, a parked car bomb went off next to an Iraqi military patrol south of Baghdad, killing two soldiers and two civilians, a police officer and a doctor said.
Eight other people were wounded in the blast in the town of Mahmoudiya, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) south of Baghdad.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release information.
Violence across Iraq has dropped dramatically over the last three years but deadly attacks still happen nearly every day.
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