IRAQ: Three bombs killed at least 19 people in Iraq yesterday, breaking a relative lull in guerrilla violence as the US ambassador warned against sectarianism and militias in the new government.
The bloodiest attack took place in the Kadhimiya district of central Baghdad, where a suicide bomber strapped with explosives climbed aboard a bus and blew himself up, killing at least 12 people.
The violence reminded Iraqi politicians of the security crisis they will face after forming a new government, a process that has yet to start more than two months after elections that Washington had hoped would ease sectarian strife.
In unusually strong language, US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad warned Iraqi leaders that Washington would not tolerate sectarianism or militias in the new government and its security forces.
"The ministers of interior, defence, national intelligence, the national security adviser, have to be people who are non-sectarian, broadly acceptable, non-militia-related that will work for all Iraqis," Mr Khalilzad told a news conference.
"The United States is investing billions of dollars into these forces, military and police forces of Iraq. American taxpayers expect their money to be spent properly. We are not going to invest the resources of the American people into forces run by people who are sectarian."
Mr Khalilzad added that while Washington was not seeking to exploit the standoff with Iran over its nuclear programme, "we don't want Iranian interference in Iraq, providing arms and training the militias and forces that are hostile to this new Iraq".
Religion plays a big role in Iraqi politics and control of security forces is expected to be an explosive issue as Shia, Kurdish and Sunni Arab politicians negotiate over ministries.
The ruling Shia Muslim bloc, the United Iraqi Alliance, is angling to keep control of the interior ministry that runs police and commando units, and says its victory in December polls gives it the biggest say over key ministries and policy.
Prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who is widely seen as weak but narrowly clinched the Alliance nomination to lead the next government, headed south yesterday to seek the blessing of Iraq's top Shia cleric and his guidance over the government.
The Alliance list won 128 seats in parliament, bolstered by the blessing of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, spiritual leader to Iraq's majority Shia, whose position could prove crucial.
In the northern city of Mosul yesterday, a bomb planted inside a restaurant killed four civilians and a policeman.
A car bomb also exploded near a council building in southeast Baghdad, killing two people and wounding 11.
Militias such as the Shia Badr Brigade are said to have more power than security forces, a situation that prompted Mr Khalilzad to also warn Iraqi leaders they would face a culture of warlords if militias are not disbanded.
Aside from trying to improve security forces, Iraq's new Shia and Kurdish leaders have embarked on a strategy of drawing Sunnis into the political process in an effort to defuse the insurgency.
Those efforts have been tarnished by Sunni accusations that the Shia-led interior ministry sanctions death squads that operate with impunity. The ministry denies the charges.
The Iraqi Islamic Party, which forms the bulk of the biggest Sunni bloc in parliament, called on the government yesterday to make serious efforts to root out death squads. - (Reuters, Guardian service)