Spiralling violence rocks Baghdad

BAGHDAD – At least four people were killed in rebel attacks in Baghdad yesterday, adding to fears of spiralling violence in the run-up to the October 15 referendum on the new constitution for post-Saddam Hussein Iraq.

US President George W Bush was preparing to address the nation to defend his strategy in war-torn Iraq while warning that a quick exit for US troops could sow a deadly harvest of future terror attacks on US soil. Yesterday’s violence erupted the day after a bomb attack in the town of Hilla south of Baghdad that killed 25 people as Shi’ite Muslims gathered for prayers at the end of their first day of the holy month of Ramadan.Iraq’s parliament also on Wednesday bowed to UN and US pressure by reversing changes to the rules of next week’s referendum that critics deemed were unfair to opponents of the divisive new constitution.Many Sunnis, believed to be the backbone of the raging insurgency, object to the charter on the grounds that its federalist principles will pave the way for the break-up of the country, handing over oil-rich provinces to Kurds and Shi’ites.Iraq’s Kurdish President Jalal Talabani was due to meet British Prime Minister Tony Blair after London accused Iran of supplying explosives technology to rebels in Iraq who have killed British soldiers in bombings in the south of the country.In one of a string of attacks in Baghdad, eight civilians were wounded when a suicide bomber drove a car at three armoured vehicles in a US military convoy in the centre of the capital.A US patrol also struck a roadside bomb in northern Baghdad, Sergeant David Abrams said, adding: “We did evacuate some casualties from the site.”Elsewhere in the capital, three civilians and one policeman were shot dead in three separate incidents, security officials said, while a retired police general and his two-year-old daughter were killed in a drive-by shooting in the northern city of Kirkuk on Wednesday.At least 25 Shi’ite Muslims died late on Wednesday in a prayer hall in Hilla when a bomb exploded as the faithful gathered to break their day-long fast on their first day of Ramadan.Al Qaeda’s frontman in Iraq, the Jordanian-born Sunni extremist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, last month declared all-out war against the country’s Shi’ite Muslim population.Thousands of US soldiers continued a sweep against al Qaeda fighters in western Iraq along the Euphrates Valley in what the military said was an attempt to cut off insurgent supply routes from neighbouring Syria.The US military says the assaults are aimed at improving security ahead of the October 15 referendum, taking place just four days before Saddam is due to go on trial over a 1982 Shi’ite massacre.- Nampa-AFPYesterday’s violence erupted the day after a bomb attack in the town of Hilla south of Baghdad that killed 25 people as Shi’ite Muslims gathered for prayers at the end of their first day of the holy month of Ramadan.Iraq’s parliament also on Wednesday bowed to UN and US pressure by reversing changes to the rules of next week’s referendum that critics deemed were unfair to opponents of the divisive new constitution.Many Sunnis, believed to be the backbone of the raging insurgency, object to the charter on the grounds that its federalist principles will pave the way for the break-up of the country, handing over oil-rich provinces to Kurds and Shi’ites.Iraq’s Kurdish President Jalal Talabani was due to meet British Prime Minister Tony Blair after London accused Iran of supplying explosives technology to rebels in Iraq who have killed British soldiers in bombings in the south of the country.In one of a string of attacks in Baghdad, eight civilians were wounded when a suicide bomber drove a car at three armoured vehicles in a US military convoy in the centre of the capital.A US patrol also struck a roadside bomb in northern Baghdad, Sergeant David Abrams said, adding: “We did evacuate some casualties from the site.”Elsewhere in the capital, three civilians and one policeman were shot dead in three separate incidents, security officials said, while a retired police general and his two-year-old daughter were killed in a drive-by shooting in the northern city of Kirkuk on Wednesday.At least 25 Shi’ite Muslims died late on Wednesday in a prayer hall in Hilla when a bomb exploded as the faithful gathered to break their day-long fast on their first day of Ramadan.Al Qaeda’s frontman in Iraq, the Jordanian-born Sunni extremist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, last month declared all-out war against the country’s Shi’ite Muslim population.Thousands of US soldiers continued a sweep against al Qaeda fighters in western Iraq along the Euphrates Valley in what the military said was an attempt to cut off insurgent supply routes from neighbouring Syria.The US military says the assaults are aimed at improving security ahead of the October 15 referendum, taking place just four days before Saddam is due to go on trial over a 1982 Shi’ite massacre.- Nampa-AFP