Iraq's political crisis deepens as bombings kill at least 72

FOURTEEN WELL co-ordinated bomb attacks have hit Baghdad, killing at least 72 people and wounding nearly 200.

The strikes, which coincided with a government crisis, were mounted yesterday in 11 locations using car bombs, roadside blasts, suicide bombers and devices that attach to cars. The attacks wreaked the worst carnage in months in a country where some 350 people die monthly from bombings and shootings.

The deadliest strike, killing 25, took place during the morning rush hour in the Karrada district where a suicide bomber drove an ambulance filled with explosives into the office of the government’s anti-corruption agency. Karrada is a mixed middle-class Shia, Sunni, Christian neighbourhood where big hotels and shopping districts are located.

Several other areas targeted were Shia. But by also striking districts with a Sunni majority, the attackers revealed an intention to expose Iraq’s inadequate security forces rather than to sow sectarian tensions.

The bombers succeeded. The immediate response from citizens was to blame the government for failing to secure the capital.

Prime minister Nuri al-Maliki who holds the interior and defence portfolios, and has primary responsibility for security, appealed for calm.

The attacks were presumably planned well before the power-sharing “unity” cabinet collapsed.

A week ago, the secular Iraqiya bloc, for which 80 per cent of Sunnis voted in the 2010 election, initiated a parliamentary boycott, accusing Mr Maliki of becoming a dictator seeking to entrench Shia ascendancy in Iraq. Over the past year Mr Maliki has marginalised secular Sunni politicians, risking a sectarian backlash against Shias. He has ordered the detention of 30 Sunni figures and the dismissal of 600 Sunni officers from the army and security forces.

Iraqiya has called for his removal.

In response to the boycott he issued a warrant for the arrest of Sunni vice-president Tareq al-Hashemi on terrorism charges and called for a parliamentary motion of no confidence in Sunni deputy premier Saleh al-Mutlak, both Iraqiya stalwarts.

Iraqiya’s seven ministers have suspended work. But Mr Maliki has said he will replace them, in violation of the constitution which requires parliamentary approval for appointments.

Mr Hashemi has gone into hiding in the northern Kurdish region, claiming he will not get a fair trial. “Iraq’s justice system is in crisis . . . it is not realistic for me to stand trial,” he said.

He has been charged with involvement in violence early in the US occupation as well as a bombing attempt outside parliament last month.

Mr Maliki has been accused of operating death squads and private prisons.

The prime minister has demanded Mr Hashemi’s return to Baghdad, dividing the Kurds.