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15 dead in car bomb in Iraq
(AP)
Updated: 2006-04-06 18:37
A car bomb exploded near a sacred Shi'ite shrine in the southern Iraqi city
of Najaf on Thursday, killing at least 15 people, police said.
March 28, 2006 file photo of the Imam Ali
mosque in the holy Iraqi city of Najaf March 28, 2006. A car bomb exploded
near a sacred Shi'ite shrine in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf on
Thursday, killing at least five people, police said. A Reuters
correspondent said he saw 10 bodies and body parts on the ground a few
hundred meters from the Imam Ali shrine, which is sacred to Shiites around
the world. [Reuters] |
A Reuters correspondent said he saw 10 bodies and body parts on the ground a
few hundred meters (yards) from the Imam Ali shrine, which is sacred to Shi'ites
around the world.
The blast came at a highly sensitive time when Iraqi leaders are struggling
to form a government four months after parliamentary elections, raising fears
that the deepening political vacuum will fuel sectarian violence.
Pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to step down and
break a deadlock over the new government.
But he refuses to heed calls by Sunni Arab and Kurdish rivals and even senior
members of his own Shi'ite alliance to withdraw his nomination for the next
cabinet.
The crisis has exposed deep divisions among Iraq's ruling Shi'ites, who
dominate the government and are backed by militias who have clashed in cities
such as Najaf.
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