40 die in day of carnage

2006-06-26 23:14

Baghdad - Powerful bombs ripped through markets in two Iraqi cities at dusk on Monday, killing at least 40 people and wounding 89.

The attacks hit Baqouba and Hillah just hours after two key parliamentarians said that Sunni Arab insurgent groups had contacted the government about joining a reconciliation effort.

The deadliest attack - a bicycle bombing in Baqouba, the Sunni insurgent stronghold 60km northeast of Baghdad - killed at least 25 and wounded 33.

Minutes earlier, a marketplace blast in Hillah, a mainly Shi'ite city 90km south of the capital, killed at least 15 people and wounded 56, said police.

Both markets were jammed with shoppers buying dinner provisions as temperatures began to cool after sunset.

Police reports from across the country on Monday listed at least 22 other deaths, victims of sectarian murders or bomb and shooting attacks.

'Optimistic' estimate

Despite the fresh opening from the militant organisations - which do not include al-Qaeda in Iraq or other Islamic extremists terror groups - a key Iraqi commander said Baghdad's forces would not be ready to keep the peace in Anbar province for at least a year.

Brigadier-General Jaleel Khalf's said his one-year estimate was what he termed "optimistic under the best of circumstances".

And it closely aligned with recent forecasts from the United States military.

Khalf said he figured the Iraqi army would need about 15 000 soldiers to properly control the vast province that spreads like a fan from Baghdad to the Saudi Arabian, Jordanian and Syrian borders.

The Iraqi defence ministry says it has about 12 000 soldiers in Anbar.

Plan offers amnesty

The seven Sunni Arab insurgent groups that approached the government about joining a reconciliation effort were motivated in part by fear of undue Iranian influence in the country, according to Kurdish parliamentarian Mahmoud Othman.

The insurgent contact came a day after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki disclosed the national reconciliation plan.

This offered amnesty to opposition fighters who had not killed Iraqis, were not involved in terrorism and had not committed crimes against humanity.

- AP