The discovery of close to 50 mutilated bodies revived fears of a communal flare-up yesterday, a day after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a surprise visit to encourage Iraq's embattled government.
Four Iraqi soldiers, two civilians and six insurgents were also killed in fresh attacks yesterday, as a wave of violence which has left more than 400 dead already this month showed no sign of letting up.
The soldiers were killed in a bait-and-ambush attack in Khan Bani Saad, 40km north of Baghdad.
PHOTO: AFP
Insurgents injured three soldiers by firing mortar shells on an Iraqi army base there and then blew up the patrol sent out in pursuit, an army officer told reporters.
Two civilians were also killed in Baghdad in the explosion of a roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi military convoy. Security forces hit back with a raid in the same neighborhood, killing two insurgents and seizing weapons.
The restive southern Baghdad district was also the scene of an assassination attempt against an Iraqi army general. His bodyguards killed four of the attackers and he survived the attack, which came four days after another top general was gunned down in front of his home.
The all-out onslaught against the fledgling force's top brass and rank-and-file coincided with the inauguration of the Iraqi ground forces' first command headquarters in Baghdad.
On an unannounced visit to Iraq on Sunday, Rice nevertheless praised the security forces for their progress in taking charge of the crackdown against the bloody Sunni Arab insurgency.
She also gave Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari a vote of confidence and insisted the war-torn country was on the right track.
"We were impressed with your leadership of this democratically elected government and we know that you will be a strong leader," Rice said after meeting Jaafari.
Rice counseled the need for patience to resolve the persistent crisis in the battered country, two years after the ouster of former president Saddam Hussein.
"Iraq is emerging from a long national nightmare of tyranny into freedom," said Rice, on her first visit to Iraq and the first by a senior US official since Jaafari took office.
Iraq's new Shiite-led Cabinet was finally approved on May 8, replacing Iyad Allawi's US-appointed administration more than three months after landmark polls.
Rice nevertheless urged the government to involve more Sunnis in the drafting of the country's permanent constitution, which is due to be completed by Aug. 15.
"What's really important here is that when they sit down to work on this constitution, that all Iraqis believe that their interests are going to be represented," she said.
The recently-formed parliamentary committee tasked with writing the new basic law counts 55 members, only two of whom are from the disempowered Sunni Arab community.
Jaafari echoed Rice's comments, saying, "We will try to find ways to have bigger Sunni participation."
The Sunnis, many of whom boycotted the Jan. 30 elections and whose inclusion in the government line-up was the subject of protracted and bitter haggling, want a timetable for a withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq. They welcomed Rice's comments.
"The declaration is very positive because it calls for the participation of all Iraqis," the Iraqi parliament's Sunni speaker, Hajem Hassani, told reporters.
"Her call is positive. Everybody should know the importance of Sunni participation not only in drafting the constitution but also in maintaining stability and unity in Iraq," said Adnan al-Dulaimi, who heads the Sunni waqf, or religious endowment.
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