The Hindu : Front Page : 66 killed in Shia suburb blast

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Sunday, Jul 02, 2006

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66 killed in Shia suburb blast

Atul Aneja

Sunni woman parliamentarian kidnapped; Maliki tours Gulf nations for support

DUBAI: A car bombing in a Shia stronghold on the outskirts of Baghdad has killed at least 66 persons and wounded dozens more. A parked car packed with explosives blew up in a crowded market in Sadr city, on Wednesday morning, causing extensive damage.

87 persons injured

Doctors at the Imam Ali hospital in the neighbourhood said 87 persons were injured in the blast. The powerful explosion destroyed 14 cars and 22 shops, and sent up huge plumes of smoke, police said. Soon after the incident, angry crowds thronged the area and raised slogans.

This is the first major attack on Shias after American air strikes on June 7 killed Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, Al-Qaeda leader in Iraq.

Al-Zarqawi had led a campaign targeting Shias that had deepened sectarian tensions in Iraq. The sectarian crisis came to the fore yet again when plain-clothes gunmen manning a checkpoint on Saturday kidnapped a Sunni woman parliamentarian.

The armed men stopped the motorcade in which Ms. Tayseer Mashhadani was travelling from the neighbouring Diyala province to attend a parliamentary meeting in Baghdad.

Ms. Mashhadani is a member of the mainly Sunni, Iraqi Islamic Party.

Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki has embarked on a whirlwind tour of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He is soliciting Arab support for his national reconciliation plan. The 24-point plan offers amnesty to some militants, and envisages disarming militias to curb violence.

However, leading Sunni groups, such as the Association of Islamic Scholars, have called the Prime Minister's initiative, a public relations exercise.

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