Bombs kill 40 in Baghdad

BAGHDAD - Bombs exploded in crowded markets in a Shi'ite district of Baghdad on Sunday, killing 40 people in one of Iraq's bloodiest days for weeks as Washington urged leaders to form a coalition to avert a slide to civil war.

Nearly 140 people were wounded in the attacks in Sadr City, slum bastion of a powerful Shi'ite militia. Two car bombs ripped through one market and a third blast, probably also a car bomb, struck another. Mortar bombs were also fired into the district.

"People were torn to pieces," a witness, who declined to be named, said at the scene.

Earlier on Sunday, 10 people were killed in a series of mortar blasts and roadside bombings. Altogether, from body counts during the day at least 80 people were killed.

Reporters witnessed chaotic scenes at a hospital in Sadr City where many of the casualties were taken. One woman wept and a man slapped his head in grief. Some of the wounded were lying on the floor.

Shi'ite Muslim reprisals after Sunni Arab insurgents were blamed for the bombing of a shrine on February 22 pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war and officials have warned a new incident could push the country into all-out conflict.

Sadr City, stronghold of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his Mehdi Army militia, has been relatively free of violence, possibly due to Sadr's efforts to cooperate with Sunnis in fighting US occupation.

The US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, tried to mediate in talks among Iraqi leaders struggling to break a deadlock over the formation of a national unity government.

"There was a lot of flexibility on all sides," he said afterwards, stressing a deal was urgent. Pressed to say how long it might take, he said: "It's going to take a bit of time."

Khalilzad has said a similar incident to the February 22 Samarra mosque bombing, which triggered sectarian bloodshed that killed hundreds, could spark a civil war and possibly ignite the entire Middle East.

The bombing plunged Iraq into its worst crisis since the March 2003 US-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein.

US President George W. Bush hopes an inclusive government of Iraq's majority Shi'ites together with Sunnis and Kurds will foster stability and allow the United States to start bringing home some of its 130,000 troops.

Defying calls from Sunnis, Kurds and secular leaders, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said he would not step down.

The ruling Shi'ite United Alliance, by far the largest bloc in parliament, is resisting pressure to reconsider backing Jaafari for a second term. But would-be partners are pressing the Alliance to drop him as the price for joining a coalition.

Critics say Jaafari, interim prime minister for one year, has failed to bring stability or prosperity to Iraq.

"My nomination was settled by the Alliance in a democratic manner and that should be respected and accepted," Jaafari told reporters after meeting President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd who has made no secret of his own preference for Jaafari to quit.

The row over the premiership has blocked the formation of Iraq's first full-term government.

Talabani said he was bringing forward the first session of parliament to March 16 from March 19, which coincides with one of the main Shi'ite religious events of the year, Arbain.

He had originally said he would call for parliament to convene on March 12 but the powerful Shi'ite Alliance asked for a delay until March 19 because it needed more time to negotiate on the formation of the new government.

On Saturday, Sunni and Shi'ite leaders held their first major coalition talks since the Samarra bombing. Reprisal killings had prompted Sunni parties to boycott negotiations.

In his weekly radio address on Saturday, Bush -- battling low approval ratings before congressional elections in November -- warned Americans of more days of fighting and sacrifice before troops could come home.

He said he hoped Iraqi forces would be in a position to police more territory than US troops by the year-end.

"The security of our country is directly linked to the liberty of the Iraqi people," said Bush."This will require more difficult days of fighting and sacrifice, yet I am confident that our strategy will result in victory."

More than 2,300 US troops have been killed in Iraq since they invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003.

Saddam's trial for crimes against humanity resumed in a Baghdad courtroom on Sunday. The former Iraqi leader was not in court after a 10-day break.

- REUTERS