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Iraqi warns of civil war as bombers kill 16 Ibon Villelabeitia and Aseel Kami / Reuters | July 12 2006 Suicide bombers struck outside Baghdad's fortified Green Zone on Tuesday, killing 16 people, close to where parliament met in heated session to hear at least one lawmaker warn that civil war was close at hand. Since parliament last met last week, dozens have been killed in the capital in bombings and some of the worst attacks yet seen by sectarian gunmen; militants in a Sunni area ambushed a minibus full of Shi'ite mourners, killing 10 of them. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite leading a U.S.- backed national unity coalition, condemned an "awful crime" by terrorists "trying to incite sectarian strife." An al Qaeda-led group posted video on the Internet of two mutilated corpses. It said they were American soldiers kidnapped and killed last month and claimed they died to avenge the alleged rape and murder of a local teenager by U.S. troops. On a positive note, the main political bloc of the once dominant Sunni minority ended a week-old boycott of parliament, saying it had encouraging news about the fate of a woman member kidnapped in a Shi'ite neighborhood 10 days ago. As night fell on Baghdad, however, in a pattern seen for the last few days, there was more violence. A car bomb in the western Alam district killed five and wounded 17, police said, while clashes erupted between militia fighters and residents in the violent Sunni area of Amriya. Addressing a heated parliamentary session on a day in which at least 30 other people were killed around Baghdad and an Iraqi diplomat was kidnapped, Ali al-Adib, from the prime minister's Dawa party said: "The country is sliding fast toward civil war." U.S. ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad acknowledged that a security crackdown in Baghdad had not yet curbed violence. "It has not produced the results they expected so far. The plan is being reviewed and adjustments will be made. No, it has not performed to the level that was expected," Khalilzad said in Washington in an appearance at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "I believe that securing Baghdad is critical," he said. "Violent sectarianism is now the main challenge ... It's imperative for the new Iraqi government to make major progress in dealing with this challenge in the next six months." FUNERAL JOURNEY In Baquba, north of Baghdad, police said a Shi'ite mosque in the town's Tahrir district had been completely destroyed in an explosion. Heavy fighting was going on in the streets nearby. Earlier in the day, two suicide bombers wearing explosives-laden vests and a roadside bomb killed 15 civilians and an Iraqi policeman in coordinated blasts outside the main public entrance to Baghdad's fortified Green Zone government and diplomatic compound, the U.S. military said. The ambush on the minibus in the violent southern Doura district of Baghdad came despite Maliki's plea on Monday for Iraqis to "unite as brothers" following a spasm of violence since Friday that has killed about 200 people across Iraq. The victims were returning from a funeral in the holy Shi'ite city of Najaf when gunmen in two cars ambushed them. A wave of tit-for-tat killings in Baghdad between majority Shi'ites, oppressed under Saddam Hussein but now politically empowered, and the once dominant Sunni Arabs has deepened a centuries-old schism and raised the specter of civil war. Maliki reiterated pledges to disband militias, some tied to parties in government, under his national reconciliation plan. "It is not in Iraq's interest to keep these militias," he said. U.S. commanders condemned the video purporting to be of the bodies of Pfc. Kristian Menchaca and Pfc. Thomas Tucker as "barbaric." The claim could not be substantiated that they were killed last month in reprisal for a rape and murder in March that was only publicized by the U.S. military 10 days ago. Since the military announced its investigation, Iraqis have expressed outrage over the case, which follows several other murder probes involving U.S. troops. Maliki has demanded a review of U.S. troops' immunity from Iraqi courts. A lawyer for one of six Americans charged over the rape and murder of 14-year-old Abeer al-Janabi and killing of her parents and 6-year-old sister sought a court order banning officials, including President George W. Bush, from commenting on the case. Emotive language was hurting chances for a fair trial, he said. ---------------------------------------------------
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