BAGHDAD - Gunmen killed the coach of Iraq's national karate team Friday in Mosul, underscoring the dangers still facing this northern city less than two weeks before a deadline for U.S. troops to withdraw from urban areas.
Izzat Abdullah, a 45-year-old Sunni, was shot to death near his house in an eastern section of Mosul, according to police and sports officials.
The head of the local Olympic committee, Khalid Mahmoud, said he attended a funeral for the 45-year-old former karate champion later Friday.
A spokesman for the National Olympic Committee, Saif al-Maliki, said Abdullah spent his time training youths as well as coaching the national team.
Abdullah moved to Mosul from Baghdad after the U.S. ouster of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, al-Maliki said.
Iraqi sports figures have frequently been kidnapped and killed, most in 2006 during the height of sectarian slayings.
The attacks have been less frequent with security gains over the past two years, but insurgents remain active in Mosul, which the U.S. military has dubbed the last urban stronghold of al-Qaida in Iraq.
The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. Ray Odierno, said earlier this week that American combat soldiers would pull back from the center of Mosul by the end of this month as scheduled, despite the continued violence.
Earlier this year, he said Mosul might be one of the cities where combat troops might remain. But he said Monday that violence and tensions in Iraq's third-largest city have declined.
"I feel much more comfortable with the situation in Mosul now," Odierno told reporters.
Under the Iraqi-U.S. security pact, American combat troops must withdraw from Iraqi cities by June 30 with all U.S. forces out of the country by the end of 2011. President Barack Obama has said all combat troops will leave Iraq by Aug. 31, 2010, leaving up to 50,000 troops in training and advising roles.
Athletes and sports officials have been targeted in kidnappings and assassination attempts either as part of tit-for-tat violence between Shiites and Sunnis or for ransom.
Four members of the previous Iraqi National Olympic Committee, including its Sunni chairman, Ahmed al-Sammarai, were kidnapped in July 2006 and their fates remain unknown.
Members of the Iraqi tae kwon do team were kidnapped while driving to a training camp in May 2006 and their remains were found a year later.
Others who have fallen victim to Iraq's violence included the Olympic cycling coach, national wrestling coach, a soccer federation member and a prominent volleyball player.
