Baghdad car bomb kills 7, Japan to pull out troops

BAGHDAD – A car bomb killed seven people in a crowded Baghdad market yesterday, in spite of a crackdown on al Qaeda that the government says involves 40 000 Iraqi forces.

In the southern city of Basra, a suicide bomber attacked a crowd of elderly and disabled people as they gathered to collect pensions, suggesting Iraq’s violence may be reaching a new level of brutality. The bomber, who had two belts of explosives strapped around him, wounded five people.Thousands of US and Iraqi troops continued their search for two US soldiers missing since Friday after an ambush south of Baghdad in the so-called “Triangle of Death”.A group affiliated with al Qaeda said on Monday it had abducted them.Japan’s Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said yesterday Japan would withdraw its 550 soldiers, engaged in reconstruction and humanitarian work in Iraq.On Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said his forces would take over security from July in the southern province of Muthanna from a British-led multinational contingent that includes Japanese troops.Maliki, eager to show Iraqis he is taking control of the country, has also cracked down in the oil port of Basra where a state of emergency was declared last month.The bloodshed has not let up in spite of the death of the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, in a US air strike on June 7.His successor, identified by US military authorities as Abu Ayyub al-Masri, has vowed to keep up a campaign of bombings, shootings and beheadings.A second car bomb in Baghdad wounded five people yesterday and a roadside bomb killed two and wounded 28 at the Bab al-Sharji market in the capital.Five more bodies of people who appeared to be victims of sectarian violence were found in different parts of Baghdad with gunshot wounds to the head and handcuffed, police said.- Nampa-ReutersThe bomber, who had two belts of explosives strapped around him, wounded five people.Thousands of US and Iraqi troops continued their search for two US soldiers missing since Friday after an ambush south of Baghdad in the so-called “Triangle of Death”.A group affiliated with al Qaeda said on Monday it had abducted them.Japan’s Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said yesterday Japan would withdraw its 550 soldiers, engaged in reconstruction and humanitarian work in Iraq.On Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said his forces would take over security from July in the southern province of Muthanna from a British-led multinational contingent that includes Japanese troops.Maliki, eager to show Iraqis he is taking control of the country, has also cracked down in the oil port of Basra where a state of emergency was declared last month.The bloodshed has not let up in spite of the death of the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, in a US air strike on June 7.His successor, identified by US military authorities as Abu Ayyub al-Masri, has vowed to keep up a campaign of bombings, shootings and beheadings.A second car bomb in Baghdad wounded five people yesterday and a roadside bomb killed two and wounded 28 at the Bab al-Sharji market in the capital.Five more bodies of people who appeared to be victims of sectarian violence were found in different parts of Baghdad with gunshot wounds to the head and handcuffed, police said.- Nampa-Reuters