Sunday, April 4, 2010

12 Killed in Baghdad Explosions

Three explosions rocked central Baghdad Sunday, killing at least 12 people and wounding some 35 others.

Iraqi officials say one of the blasts was near the Iranian embassy.

Authorities say the other two explosions were in the Baghdad district of Mansour.

The blasts shook buildings and shattered windows, sending a column of smoke across the Iraqi capital

On Saturday, Iraqi military officials imposed a curfew in the village of Bou Saifi near Baghdad, where gunmen wearing military uniforms killed at least 24 people a day earlier.

The Iraqi Interior Ministry has blamed al-Qaida for the slaying of men and women who reportedly had connections to the pro-U.S. Awakening movement, that helped U.S. and Iraqi forces fight al-Qaida.

Local officials said most of the victims were tied up and brutally beaten before they were killed execution style. They said security forces found seven people tied up but alive.

Iraqi security forces detained at least 25 people in connection with the slayings.

In an unrelated development, supporters of influential anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr concluded a two-day ballot Saturday to decide which candidate his movement will support to be Iraq's next prime minister.

The winner of the unofficial referendum, which has no legal authority, is expected to be announced in the next few days.

The plebiscite was open to all Iraqis but it is unclear how widely ballots were available beyond Sadrist strongholds.

Former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's secular Iraqiya alliance finished first with 91 seats in the March 7 parliamentary elections -- two more than the State of Law Shi'ite coalition of incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Sadr's religious party won 39 seats in the polls, making him a likely deciding influence in efforts to form a governing coalition.


Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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