Fifty more bodies found in Baghdad

BAGHDAD - The bound bodies of dozens more torture victims were found in Baghdad in the past day fuelling anarchic sectarian anger that a US general said could lead to civil war.

In all, police retrieved 50 bodies in the 24 hours to Friday morning, most shot in the head after being trussed and tortured, a senior Interior Ministry official told Reuters. That took the body count in the city for three days to at least 130.

The US military acknowledged a "spike" in the death rate this week, despite a month-old security crackdown in the capital for which Washington sent in thousands of extra troops. Seven US soldiers died on Thursday, five around Baghdad, including three in a suicide car bombing that also wounded 30 Americans.

"We're trying to knock down sectarian violence and go after those folks, those death squads, that have caused this new form of violence that, if left unchecked, could lead to civil war," US Lieutenant General Peter Chiarelli said in Baghdad.

Acknowledging a recent leaked report that said much of Sunni Anbar province was in the control of al Qaeda and other rebels, he said troops had been diverted to the capital as it was vital to stem the bloodshed: "Baghdad is our main effort right now."

At Baghdad police headquarters, sources said their latest tally for the 24 hours to 7am (3pm NZ time) was 49 bodies.

Other corpses have been pulled from rivers downstream of the city, among them a headless, legless corpse found at Mussayab.

Officials said 20 bodies were found in Baghdad on Thursday after 60 on Wednesday - the latter a figure that made headlines and drew renewed international attention to violence the United Nations has estimated may be killing 100 Iraqis a day.

"It's barbaric but sadly we've become used to it," the Interior Ministry official said. "Forty bodies, 60 bodies - it's become a daily routine."

The White House, defending its Iraq policy from fierce criticism ahead of November's congressional elections, called the body counts "horrible".

Although some of the violence is the work of criminal gangs taking advantage of the anarchy to make money from kidnapping and extortion, political leaders on either side of the sectarian divide blame militants on the other for "death squad" killings.

Parliamentary leaders are due to meet on Saturday to try to break a deadlock over proposed legislation to grant sweeping autonomy to new regions within a federal state structure.

Shi'ites want to introduce a bill on Tuesday to define the mechanisms of the federalism laid out in the US-sponsored constitution. Many want to create a large, autonomous region in the south, similar to that run by the ethnic Kurds in the north.

But the Sunni Arab minority in the centre and west are threatening to boycott parliament and want to amend the constitution to ensure that central government prevails. They fear regional autonomy could mean Shi'ite and Kurdish control of Iraq's oil and say it would lead to the country breaking up.

Parliament's Shi'ite deputy speaker Khaled al-Attiya, who has pledged "no retreat", met top cleric Shi'ite Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in the holy city of Najaf to discuss federalism. The reclusive Sistani is regarded as a voice of moderation.

Attiya said in comments broadcast by state television on Friday that he had won support for the draft law from other Shi'ite factions, including the party of fiery young cleric and militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr, and the smaller Fadila party.

A nationalist, Sadr has been cooler on the issue of federalism, and some observers have speculated that he might ally with sceptical Sunnis to block legislation.

The constitution ratified last year in a referendum despite strong Sunni objections sets deadlines for passing enabling legislation on setting up federal regions and for reviewing and maybe amending the constitution.

The Sunnis want amendments before discussing legislation. Shi'ite leaders want a bill passed by an October 22 deadline that would create mechanisms for setting up autonomous regions. It is not clear what happens if the deadlines pass without result.

- REUTERS