IRAQ: A car bomb exploded in the Shia city of Najaf yesterday, killing at least 13 people, as Iraqi leaders struggle to break a deadlock over forming a government they hope can avert sectarian civil war.
Police said the blast occurred in a crowded area between an ancient cemetery and the Imam Ali shrine, one of the most sacred to Shias. The explosion prompted the authorities to impose a curfew. The mosque, however, was not damaged.
"When the black Opel car exploded, I could only see human flesh flying in the air," said Mahmoud Mohsin (38) a drinks seller, who was being treated in hospital for head wounds.
Hospital officials said the bomb killed 13 people and wounded about 40 others, but police put the death toll at 15.
In February, the bombing of another Shia shrine in the town of Samarra touched off reprisals and pushed Iraq to the edge of a full-blown sectarian conflict.
Southern Iraq has been relatively free of the Arab Sunni insurgency plaguing other parts of the country, but rivalries among Shias have turned violent.
The blast came amid growing calls for Shia prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to step down in order to boost efforts to form a government four months after elections.
Frustration among Iraqis exploded amid the carnage at the scene of the blast, where a weeping man stood clutching a severed hand and human flesh.
"Where is the government? Where is Jaafari? Where is Sistani?," he yelled, referring to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the Shia cleric whose calls for moderation are credited with keeping Iraq from reaching the point of no return.
Kurdish and Sunni leaders refuse to work with Mr al-Jaafari and senior officials in his Shia Alliance say he should step aside, but he deflects criticism that he failed to improve security during his year as interim prime minister. Speaking at a live conference on state television, Mr al-Jaafari repeated what he has been saying all along. "I have no hesitation in stepping down from my position. If my [the Iraqi] people decide that, I will respond," he said. The push for a new government has exposed sharp differences among Shias in an uneasy alliance with parties backed by rival militias.
Mr al-Jaafari's main supporter in the alliance is Moqtada al-Sadr, a radical cleric who has led two bloody uprisings against US and Iraqi troops. The US and Britain delivered a tough warning to Iraqi leaders this week, saying the political vacuum left by their bickering would only fuel violence.