Bombs rip through Baghdad Shi’ite area, kill 46

By Lutfi Abu Oun and Ibon Villelabeitia

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Up to six car bombs ripped through the
east Baghdad stronghold of a major Shi’ite militia force on
Sunday, killing 46 people, wounding 204 and raising fears
reprisals could again pitch Iraq toward civil war.

The apparently coordinated attacks on markets in Sadr City
occurred as political leaders, shepherded by the U.S.
ambassador to Iraq, met once more without obvious result to
discuss forming a national unity government that might avert a
bloodbath.

The blasts ended a lull that itself followed days of
violence between Sunnis and Shi’ites after the bombing of a
Shi’ite shrine in Samarra on February 22.

Final police accounts of the attacks said up to six cars
exploded in quick succession in the area. Officials put the
death toll at 46.

“People were torn to pieces,” said a witness, declining to
be named.

Amid chaos at nearby hospitals, the wounded lay on floors
and women wept. One man sat silently slapping his head in
grief.

Officials said after the Samarra bombing that a new major
attack could spark all-out sectarian conflict. Two years of
relative restraint by the Shi’ite majority, under clerical
orders, is wearing thin, some Shi’ite leaders warn.

A major Sunni religious organization, the Sunni Endowment,
was quick to issue a statement condemning the Sadr City
attacks.

SLUM STRONGHOLD

Gunmen from the Mehdi Army militia of radical Shi’ite
cleric Moqtada al-Sadr sealed off his sprawling slum
stronghold, home to some two million people, and militia
officials blamed Sunni militants loyal to Saddam Hussein.

Sunni leaders accuse the Mehdi Army of taking a lead in
attacks on Sunni homes and mosques, mainly in Baghdad, after
the Samarra Golden Mosque bombing, despite Sadr’s insistent
denials.

Three months after elections in which the once dominant
Sunni minority took full part, hopes that this would help end
violence and bring the country together have been dented.

Parliament has yet to meet but President Jalal Talabani
said it would now do so on Thursday, three days earlier than
planned.

Talks on a government were halted by the violence after the
Samarra bombing, which killed hundreds in just a few days.

“We have decided to continue meetings among representatives
of the parliamentary blocs and then put the issues to their
leaders to find an appropriate solution,” Talabani said after a
series of meetings on Sunday.

U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, playing a key role in
negotiations that Washington hopes can curb violence and let it
start withdrawing troops, was upbeat.

He called it positive that parliament would now meet this
week and said leaders would begin “continuous” talks on Tuesday
with a view to settling on a coalition line-up soon.

Sunnis, Kurds and secular leaders have been blocking an
accord with a demand that Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shi’ite who has
led the interim government for the past year, should be dropped
as the Shi’ites’ choice of premier for the new four-year term.

After Sunnis and Shi’ites held their first substantive
talks on Saturday since the February 22 shrine bombing, Jaafari
himself said on Sunday he would not step down.

“REAL DETERMINATION”

His main rival within the dominant Shi’ite Alliance bloc,
Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, said after the all-party talks: “There is
a real determination … to solve the crisis.”

Khalilzad declined to be drawn on whether he thought
Jaafari might be forced out.

“Everyone agrees that the prime minister has to be someone
that can bring the country together,” he said. “It’s still
going to take a bit of time.”

Talabani said the Jaafari issue had not been discussed.

Earlier on Sunday, shortly before the resumption of
Saddam’s trial in Baghdad, 10 people were killed in a series of
mortar blasts and roadside bombings. Altogether, from body
counts during the day more than 80 new violent deaths were
recorded.

Sadr City has previously been relatively immune from Sunni
insurgent attacks. Some speculate that was because Sadr, who
led two uprisings against U.S. forces in 2004, had won respect
among Sunnis with his anti-American rhetoric.

As a rising kingmaker within the Shi’ite Alliance, Sadr has
been more critical of Sunni militants lately, including
comments in a lengthy interview aired on U.S.-backed state TV
on Friday.

In a radio address on Saturday, U.S. President George W.
Bush — battling low ratings before congressional elections in
November — warned Americans their troops would shed more blood
before they could come home after three years in Iraq.

“The security of our country is directly linked to the
liberty of the Iraqi people,” he said.

Saddam’s trial for crimes against humanity resumed, but the
former leader was not in court after a 10-day break. Three of
his co-accused, minor officials of his Baath party, testified
in their own defense. Saddam will do the same later this week.

(Additional reporting by Faris al-Mehdawi, Mariam Karouny,
Mussab Al-Khairalla, Alastair Macdonald, Ross Colvin and Nick
Olivari)