US supported Iraq government Ineffective as collapse continues

October 7, 2007

Baghdad Bombings Kill at Least 9 Iraqis

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 6:05 a.m. ET

BAGHDAD (AP) -- Bombings across Baghdad killed at least nine Iraqi civilians

and wounded 12 in three separate attacks early Sunday, including one near

Iran's embassy, police officials said.

The violence came a day after two of Iraq's most powerful Shiite leaders

agreed to end a bitter rivalry and months of armed clashes and

assassinations in the oil-rich south that have threatened to spread into a

wider conflict.

The incidents began around 7 a.m., when a roadside bomb targeting a police

patrol exploded near a minibus carrying workers into central Baghdad.

Three people were killed and four wounded in the Shiite-dominated

neighborhood of Baladiyat in the eastern part of the capital, according to a

police official who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to

speak to the media.

The inside of the mangled minibus was soaked in blood, the metal hulk was

pummeled by shrapnel and the windows were shattered, according to Associated

Press Television News footage.

A half-hour later, in the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of Dora in

southern Baghdad, a second roadside bomb targeting a U.S. patrol missed its

target, killing three Iraqi civilians and wounding three others, police

said.

And in the downtown commercial area of Salihiyah, a bomb planted in the back

of a car parked near the Iranian Embassy exploded around 8:30 a.m., killing

three Iraqi passers-by and wounding five others, according to police. Dozens

of people gathered to examine the smoldering wreckage at the side of the

road, according to APTN footage.

Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the

largest Shiite political party, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, promised

Saturday to stop the bloodshed and enhance cooperation between their two

movements.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Sunday endorsed the deal, saying it gave

him ''great comfort.''

Internal rivalries have been rising in recent months, particularly in the

southern Shiite heartland where factions have been vying for power as the

British military has pulled back to a base at the Basra airport.

The three-point agreement appeared to be aimed at reining in rival militants

loyal to al-Sadr and al-Hakim before the fighting erupts into a full-fledged

conflict that could shatter the relative unity of the Shiite-led governing

apparatus.

The Mahdi Army militia, which is nominally loyal to al-Sadr, and the armed

wing of al-Hakim's party, known as the Badr Brigade, face long-standing

rivalries and frequently have clashed since Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated

regime was ousted in 2003.

Tensions boiled over this summer with the assassination of two provincial

governors belonging to SIIC, the targeting of al-Sadr lieutenants and even

the shooting deaths of several aides to Iraq's pre-eminent Shiite cleric,

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

A turning point appears to have been in late August when deadly street

battles broke out between militia fighters in the holy city of Karbala,

killing dozens of people during a major Shiite religious festival.

Trying to do damage control, al-Sadr announced a ''freeze'' of his militia

activities for up to six months to allow for its restructuring. However, it

is unclear how much control the youthful cleric maintains over his fighters

as groups have splintered from the main movement.

The U.S. military has welcomed al-Sadr's call for his fighters to stand down

but says it will continue targeting so-called rogue elements it believes are

being trained and funded by Iran.

Also Sunday, the leader of Iraq's self-governing Kurdish region spoke out in

an opinion piece published in The Wall Street Journal about new oil

agreements with several international companies.

The central government in Baghdad is upset about the deals, saying the Kurds

should wait until the passage of a national oil law before signing any new

contracts.

But Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said the deals were ''not an

attempt to usurp the nation's oil resources'' but rather to make ''these

valuable resources work for the people of Iraq.''

He said the Kurdish regional government has signed eight production-sharing

contracts with international oil and gas companies since enacting its own

law governing foreign oil investments in August and expected to sign two

more ''in the near future.''