IRAQ: Bomb attacks at two crowded Iraqi markets killed and wounded dozens of people yesterday, a day after prime minister Nuri al-Maliki unveiled a national reconciliation plan.
A bomb in a bag exploded in the market in Hilla, a mainly Shia town south of Baghdad, killing a number of people. Around the same time, a bomb strapped to a parked motorcycle killed seven people at a market in a mainly Shia village northeast of Baghdad, witnesses and police said.
It was one of the bloodiest days in the country since al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a US air strike on June 7th. At least 11 other people were reported killed in shootings and bombings across Iraq.
There was confusion over the Hilla death toll. Interior ministry sources in Baghdad, citing Hilla police, said 17 people had been killed and 25 wounded. But a spokesman for Hilla police, Muthana al-Mamoury, said only eight people were killed. Hilla, surrounded by restive Sunni Arab areas and situated 100km south of Baghdad, has been the scene of numerous bombings over the past two years.
Mr Maliki's national reconciliation plan came in for criticism from both sides of the sectarian divide yesterday, a day after parliament accepted the strategy, which was short on detail.
Iraq's most senior Sunni Arab politician, vice-president Tareq al-Hashemi, said the plan set no withdrawal date for US forces and that Mr Maliki - a Shia Islamist - was wrong to rule out peace negotiations with followers of Saddam Hussein.
"Leaving the issue of a timetable [ for US withdrawal] vague is telling the resistance: 'Continue your fighting to liberate Iraq'," Mr Hashemi said.
US commanders are keen to leave but see withdrawal taking years while civil war is a threat from various armed groups.
The White House said the top US commander in Iraq, Gen George Casey, had drafted a plan for US troop cuts, but president George Bush reiterated any pullout would depend on the ability of Iraq's new security forces to police the country.
The US military confirmed that two soldiers found dead south of Baghdad last week had been abducted and killed by guerrillas. It said the bodies, "severely traumatised", had been found with a makeshift bomb between one of the soldier's legs.
In his 24-point plan presented to parliament on Sunday, Mr Maliki offered an olive branch to all who were ready to join the political process and said thousands who were not convicted of major crimes should be freed.
The movement of fiery Shia cleric and militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr, accused by Sunnis of attacks on them, welcomed the plan but opposed proposals to soften measures barring Saddam's Baathist supporters from office.
Like Mr Hashemi's Iraqi Islamic Party, Sheikh Sadr's movement is part of the broad coalition government formed after months of wrangling following national elections in December. Since taking office, Mr Maliki has vowed to crush the Sunni insurgency that has killed tens of thousands of Iraqis.
Russia said it appeared four embassy staff kidnapped in Baghdad four weeks ago had been killed.
An al-Qaeda-led group posted video footage on the internet on Sunday showing the killing of three men it said were Russian hostages.