What's in a name? For some Iraqis, a death sentence

Shiite gunmen identified Sunnis by their IDs in a Sunday attack.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- A bookstore in eastern Baghdad is getting more customers these days, but they aren't looking for something to read. The owner sells fake IDs, a booming business as Iraqis try to hide their identities in hopes of staying alive.
Although it's nearly impossible to distinguish between a Sunni and a Shiite by sight, names can be telling. Surnames refer to tribe and clan, while first names are often chosen to honor historical figures revered by one sect but sometimes despised by the other.
For about $35, someone with a common Sunni name like Omar could become Abdul-Mahdi, a Shiite name that might provide safe passage through dangerous areas.
"I got a fake ID card to protect myself from the Shiite militias who are deploying in Baghdad and hunt Sunnis at fake checkpoints," said Omar Abdul Rahman, a 22-year-old university student. He refused to give the name on his fake ID.
The growing use of fake IDs reflects the spike in violence between Sunnis and Shiites since the Feb. 22 bombing of a revered Shiite mosque in Samarra -- an attack that triggered reprisal killings of Sunnis and pushed the country to the brink of civil war.
Interior Ministry Maj. Gen. Mahdi al-Gharawi said officials are aware fake IDs are common but have more important things to focus on -- such as stopping violence.
"They are issuing Sunni IDs in the Shiite areas and vice versa," he said. "It's illegal, but one can understand why they do it."
The problem was thrust into the spotlight Sunday when masked Shiite gunmen ambushed Sunnis in western Baghdad, singling out those with names commonly used by Sunnis to be killed.
Wissam Mohammad al-Ani, a 27-year-old Sunni calligrapher, said his false identification card has a Shiite name and it saved his life when he was approached by gunmen.
"When they saw it, they let me go," he said, adding that two young men standing with him at a bus stop in the Jihad neighborhood were seized.
Ongoing investigation
In other news, a 2002 high school graduate from a central Pennsylvania town is one of the American soldiers charged in the alleged rape-murder of a young Iraqi woman and the killing of three of her relatives.
Pfc. Jesse Spielman, of Chambersburg, is charged with premeditated murder, rape, obstruction of justice, housebreaking, arson and other offenses and could face the death penalty.
A television station said Spielman's mother, Nancy Hess, told a reporter she was shocked by the charges and hoped to speak with her son soon.
"I don't believe the charges and I'm still proud of him," WGAL-TV in Lancaster quoted Hess, who did not appear on camera.
The U.S. military on Monday disclosed the names of Spielman and three other soldiers charged with rape and murder in a March attack in which four members of a family were killed. A fifth soldier was charged for not reporting the attack but is not accused of actively participating.
In a related episode, an al-Qaida-linked group claims it killed three U.S. soldiers last month and mutilated two of their bodies to avenge the rape-slaying of a young Iraqi woman by troops of the same unit, an institute which monitors extremists Web sites said Tuesday.
The Mujahedeen Shura Council made the claim in a 4:39 minute video posted on the Internet which included the mutilated bodies of two of the soldiers attacked June 19 near Youssifiyah southwest of Baghdad, according to a statement by the SITE Institute.
The institute released still pictures from the video showing two of the American dead, one of whom had been decapitated.
According to the institute, the statement by the insurgent group said the video was released as "revenge for our sister who was dishonored by a soldier of the same brigade."And in Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday she is certain Iraq's new leaders can prevail over "determined killers" like those who killed 41 people over the weekend.
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