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Massive car bomb kills 66 in Baghdad

Gunmen kidnap a female Sunni lawmaker, and the U.S. military announces the deaths of two more U.S. troops.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published July 2, 2006

BAGHDAD - A huge car bomb exploded Saturday at a bustling outdoor market in a Shiite district of Baghdad, killing at least 66 people and injuring about 100. It was the deadliest attack since the new national unity government took office six weeks ago and one of the biggest this year.

Shortly before the mid morning blast, gunmen seized a female Sunni legislator at a checkpoint in a Shiite area of the capital. Both attacks represented a major challenge to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's vow to curb sectarian violence that threatens to plunge Iraq into civil war.

The bomb blew some victims onto the roofs of nearby two-story buildings and sent a plume of gray smoke billowing into the sky above Sadr City, stronghold of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Rescuers sprinted through streets littered with debris of shattered market stalls. Emergency crews bundled the wounded into ambulances and private cars and rushed them to hospitals. Late Saturday, Iraqi state television reported that 66 people died and about 100 were wounded.

The bombing was the deadliest since an April 7 suicide attack that killed 87 people at a Shiite mosque in Baghdad.

A statement posted Saturday on the Internet claimed responsibility for the Sadr City blast in the name of the Sunna Supporters Group in retaliation for Shiite attacks on Sunnis. The statement, whose authenticity could not be verified, accused Shiites of killing Sunnis and raping Sunni women in detention.

"Your mujahedeen brothers decided to teach the Shiites a lesson that they will not forget as long as they live," the statement said.

Even before the statement appeared, bystanders in Sadr City blamed Sunni extremists, such as al-Qaida in Iraq, whose leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. airstrike June 7.

"Give us the green light to attack and finish them for once and for all," a group of young men shouted, referring to Sunni militants.

A few miles from the blast, gunmen seized lawmaker Tayseer al-Mashhadani and seven of her bodyguards at a checkpoint in a Shiite area of eastern Baghdad. Officials said she was traveling to Baghdad from her home in nearly Diyala province, a hotbed of sectarian violence, to attend a Parliament session today. One of her bodyguards escaped, officials said.

Mashhadani's colleagues in the Iraqi Islamic Party, the largest Sunni political organization, blamed the ministers of interior and defense for failing to restore security in the capital. A party statement alleged that some of the kidnappers carried government-issue weapons.

The U.S. Embassy condemned the kidnapping as an attempt to stoke sectarian tension and demanded her immediate release.

"We note that Ms. al-Mashhadani is an elected representative of the people of Iraq and that this act is repugnant to all who believe in the right of Iraqis to participate in their country's democracy," the embassy said.

The latest violence occurred as Maliki, a Shiite, left for a tour of Persian Gulf countries to brief leaders on his plans for national reconciliation, including amnesty for Sunni Arab insurgents and efforts to heal the Shiite-Sunni rift.

Maliki's first stop was Saudi Arabia, whose government fears that sectarian violence in Iraq could spill over into neighboring countries that are dominated by Sunnis but have large Shiite communities. He is also to visit Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

As part of the reconciliation plan, Iraqi and U.S. authorities Saturday freed 495 prisoners from U.S. jails across Iraq, completing a mass release announced by Maliki last month. Most of the prisoners were believed to be Sunnis.

"We are prepared in consultation with the Iraqi leaders to make future prisoner releases and to take other concrete steps to facilitate reconciliation," U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said in a statement.

U.S. and Iraqi officials had hoped that installation of a new unity government of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds would stem the violence and encourage armed groups to join the political process. Those hopes were buoyed by the death of Zarqawi.

However, more than 700 Iraqi civilians and security forces have died violently since Zarqawi's death, according to Associated Press figures.

Two American service members died of noncombat related injuries in separate incidents, the U.S. military announced.

One was assigned to the Army's 43rd Military Police Brigade. The other was an Air Force member assigned to the 886th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron at Camp Bucca in southern Iraq, the Air Force said.

No further details were released and names of the victims were withheld pending notification of kin.

Elsewhere, police found a grave in Baghdad containing bodies of at least six men who appeared to have been shot more than a month ago, Lt. Thaer Mahmoud said. The identities of the men were unknown, but their bodies were discovered in a Baghdad area notorious for sectarian killings.

[Last modified July 2, 2006, 03:21:30]