Seven car bombs exploded across the capital Monday, killing at least six
people and wounding dozens, as politicians met to try to finalize a new Cabinet.
Police discovered the bodies of 20 Iraqis — apparent victims of sectarian
killings the United States hopes the new government can end.
Iraqi police and soldiers secure the scene of
a car bomb, as fireman work to extinguish the burning wreckage Monday
April 24, 2006 in Baghdad, Iraq. Six car bombs exploded in the capital
Monday, killing at least six people and wounding dozens, as politicians
met to try to finalize a new Cabinet, and Police discovered bodies of 17
Iraqis _ apparent victims of sectarian killings that the U.S. hopes the
new government can end. [AP] |
Three roadside bombs, five drive-by shootings and a mortar round killed 12
Iraqis in Baghdad and elsewhere, police said.
The violence underlines the challenges as prime minister-designate Jawad
al-Maliki begins the tough task of assembling a Cabinet out of Iraq's Shiite,
Sunni and Kurdish parties.
On Monday morning, political parties met separately in Baghdad to discuss
proposed Cabinet ministers and were to meet as a group later in the day, said
Kamal al-Saeidi of al-Maliki's Dawa party.
A day earlier, President Bush called al-Maliki, the Iraqi president and the
parliament speaker — all named on Saturday — and urged the quick formation of a
coalition government. Al-Maliki, a Shiite, has 30 days to choose a Cabinet, but
the political parties are under enormous pressure — from Americans and even
Shiite religious leaders — to move quickly without the often intractable
haggling over ministries.
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, a key player in protracted political
negotiations since Iraq's Dec. 15 elections, repeated his call for the quick
creation of a Cabinet of "competent" ministers — implying those chosen for their
skills and not sectarian or political ties.
The United States is hoping the new government will unify Iraq's bitterly
divided factions behind a program aimed at reining in both the Sunni-led
insurgency and the Shiite-Sunni killings that has escalated during months
without a stable government.
Baghdad's first car bomb exploded during morning rush hour on a major street
near the Tigris river, close to a complex of government buildings, a hospital
and a bus station. Three people were killed and 25 wounded.
Two hours later, bombs hidden in two cars parked near Mustansiriya University
in eastern Baghdad exploded, killing three civilians, including a 10-year-old
boy, and wounding 22 people, said police Lt. Bila Ali.