Bomb Hidden in Minibus Kills 2 Iraqis

04/25/2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A bomb hidden in a minibus exploded near the offices of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in eastern Baghdad on Tuesday, killing two Iraqi civilians and wounding three, police said.

The minibus had just pulled to the side of the street in a market, about 400 yards from al-Sadr’s offices, said witness Naim Madkour, 36, a perfume shop owner. It had been picking up passengers, but he couldn’t see if it had any inside at the time of the blast.

One man fled from the minibus just before it blew up, Madkour said. Iraqis often ride around the capital by paying small fees to privately owned minibuses.

The explosion at 11:45 a.m. in mostly Shiite Sadr City damaged nearby storefronts, which were closed, but there were few people in the street because the market opens in the evening. The bomb, hidden in a plastic bag, killed two Iraqi civilians and wounded three, said police Lt. Ahmed Mohammed.


Al-Sadr controls the Mahdi Army that has been blamed for a wave of sectarian kidnappings and killings in Baghdad and other cities in the last few months. He has refused to disband the group unless other militias are abolished and the army and police prove capable of protecting Shiites from Sunni extremists.

Elsewhere in Baghdad, police found the bodies of two Iraqi men who apparently had been tortured and killed in captivity. The latest deaths brought to more than 70 the number of Iraqis reported killed in insurgency or sectarian-related violence since Jawad al-Maliki was tapped Saturday to head a national unity government.

The United States believes a unity government of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds is essential to halting the country’s slide to chaos.

Political parties met separately in Baghdad’s heavily guarded Green Zone to discuss proposed Cabinet ministers. Al-Maliki, a Shiite, has 30 days from April 22 to present his Cabinet to parliament for majority approval. A top Shiite official, Ridha Jawad Taqi, said he expected the lineup to be finalized within 15 days.

In other violence Tuesday:


_Two roadside bombs - one targeting a U.S. military convoy and the other an Iraqi police patrol - exploded in Baghdad, wounding three Iraqis, officials said.

_A roadside bomb seriously wounded an Iraqi policeman, and a drive-by shooting killed a Kurdish civilian as he was leaving his home in the northern city of Mosul, said police Maj. Gen. Wathiq Mohammed.

_A roadside bomb exploded near a foot patrol of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers in Haqlaniyah, 140 miles northwest of the Iraqi capital, said Younis Al-Azawi, director of a school near the site of the blast. He said three American soldiers were wounded, but the U.S. military could not immediately confirm that.

On Monday, a string of car bombs rocked Baghdad, killing 10 people and injuring nearly 80. At least 15 other people were killed in bombings and shootings. Police also discovered the bodies of 28 people in the capital and the northern city of Mosul. They included 15 police recruits from Ramadi who were kidnapped Sunday and slain by insurgents, police said.

In an interview Monday with CNN, al-Maliki said he would work toward “national reconciliation on the basis of national dialogue and common interests” among Iraq’s rival ethnic and religious communities.

He also promised to “cleanse our society” of terrorism, combat corruption and disband militias controlled by political parties and integrate them into the armed forces and the police.

“I’m confident that the militias, and there are more than 11 militias, must be disarmed,” al-Maliki said. “There’s no difference between one militia and others.”