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BAGHDAD - A suicide bomber killed 35 Iraqi police recruits today, the bloodiest such attack in weeks.
Hours later, under pressure to avert civil war, the prime minister told a parliament crackling with sectarian tension that he would fire a host of under-performing ministers.
In Washington, where President
George W Bush has said he is open to "any ideas" for fixing problems in Iraq, his Democratic opponents who took control of Congress last week said they would push to start bringing US troops home in four to six months.
The deaths of three American soldiers were announced -- as well as four British troops on a patrol boat in the south -- but the White House warned against fixing a withdrawal timetable.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's reshuffle announcement to a closed session of parliament came hours after a man wearing an explosive vest walked into a crowd lining up outside a police commando recruiting centre in Baghdad and blew himself up.
Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for killing 35 and wounding 58 in the blast. It called the victims agents of the "Safavid" government -- a historical reference to Iranian Shi'ite rulers and increasingly used by Sunni Arabs who accuse Maliki's administration of answering to non-Arab Tehran.
In all, over 100 deaths were reported today.
It is six months since his national unity coalition was formed following months of wrangling after last December's election, and Maliki has little to show for efforts to reconcile Sunnis, Kurds and his fellow Shi'ites in the government.
A compromise choice, accepted by Washington but with little leverage over the most powerful faction leaders, his earlier vow in August to replace a handful of ministers came to nothing and it is not yet clear how much success he will have this time.
Nonetheless, lawmakers on all sides voiced cautious support.
Maliki, a Shi'ite Islamist, has been under pressure from US officials to show progress in curbing violence that many say risks pitching Iraq into all-out civil war -- though the United States has not spelled out the options if he fails.
"The prime minister called for a comprehensive ministerial reshuffle in accordance with the current situation," Maliki's office said in a statement after parliament's closed session.
In remarks made yesterday and published today, he said: "By this reshuffle, we want to send a message to all ministers that they may be replaced if they don't succeed."
He also said he would not necessarily stick to "quotas" of cabinet posts according to parties' strength in parliament but would appoint those competent for their tasks -- something Iraq badly needs, with its potentially oil-rich economy still in a morass and its ministries accused of rampant corruption.
Sunnis, dominant under Saddam Hussein, have threatened to quit the government if they are not given a bigger role, and sectarian rhetoric between their mainstream leaders and the now dominant Shi'ites has stepped up a gear in recent days.
Some Sunni leaders have spoken of a return to arms and have hurled charges of Iranian control at Shi'ites. In return, Maliki said yesterday: "Regrettably this suggests some of our partners are not fit for responsibility."
News of a cabinet reshuffle, which Maliki did not rule out might include the Interior and Defence portfolios, comes at a delicate time for Washington, which has 150,000 troops in Iraq.
With Congress in the hands of Democrats critical of Bush's policy so far, generals are preparing recommendations for a shift in US strategy -- what one called "a good honest scrub".
Carl Levin, the Democrat tipped to chair the Senate's Armed Services Committee, said: "We need to begin a phased redeployment of forces from Iraq in four to six months."
White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten stressed plans to bolster the Iraqi government and security forces, adding: "It's hard for me to see how that can be done on a fixed timetable."
Maliki said he saw only "slight" change in US policy and, answering a journalist's question about persistent speculation in Iraq that Washington might oust him, added: "For America to conduct a military coup in Iraq would be tantamount to suicide."
US plans to form an army and police force numbering over 300,000 are close to complete but doubts remain about their performance. As today's attack on the recruits showed, they are vulnerable to attack by guerrillas. Many are also viewed by Iraqis as mere extensions of factional, sectarian militias.
- REUTERS