Attacks In Baghdad Kill At Least 32

BAGHDAD — Iraq's prime minister sought safeguards Sunday for small religious communities in this mainly Muslim country as Christians protested parliament's decision to stop setting aside seats for minorities on provincial councils.

In Baghdad, a series of explosions struck mostly Shiite areas, killing at least 32 people and wounding nearly 100, police said. The attacks appeared aimed at reviving sectarian tensions that once threatened to plunge the nation into civil war.

Parliament last week approved a new law mandating elections in most of Iraq's 18 provinces. But the law removed a system that reserved a few legislative seats for Christians and other religious minorities.

Lawmakers cited a lack of census data to determine what the quotas should be. But many Christians saw the move as an effort to marginalize their community.

"I think that some political groups are pushing the remaining Christians to leave Iraq," worshipper Afram Razzaq-Allah said after services at a Catholic church in Baghdad. "They want us to feel that we are no longer Iraqis."

In a letter sent to parliament Sunday, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki appealed to the legislators and the electoral commission to restore the quota system.

"The minorities should be fairly represented in the provincial councils and their rights should be guaranteed," al-Maliki wrote.

Hundreds of Christians staged street protests after Sunday church services in and around Mosul, a northern city where many of the country's Christians live. Some said the removal of the quotas is an attempt to force them to leave Iraq.

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"This is an unjust decision and it affects our rights as Christians," Matti Galia, a local politician, said at a rally in Mosul. "We are original citizens in this country. The politicians' goal was to divide the Iraqi people and create more struggles. Indirectly, they are telling us to leave Iraq."

Iraq's Christians have been targeted by Muslim militants since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, with priests, churches and Christian-owned businesses attacked. The violence has led many Christians to flee the country.

Sectarian violence has receded since U.S. troop reinforcements were sent in last year. However, U.S. commanders have warned that extremist groups such as al-Qaida in Iraq are still trying to rekindle sectarian warfare to undermine the U.S.-backed Iraqi government.

The string of explosions in the capital Sunday began near sundown as Muslims were preparing for Iftar, the meal that breaks the daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan.

The deadliest blasts occurred in the Karradah neighborhood, where a parked car loaded with explosives blew up in a commercial area about 7 p.m., killing 19 people and wounding 72, police and hospital officials said.

Police said that about 90 minutes earlier, two car bombs exploded nearly simultaneously in the Shurta Rabaa and Amil districts of west Baghdad, but the U.S. military said later that the car in Amil blew up due to an electrical fire.

Twelve people were killed and 35 wounded in the Shurta Rabaa blast, and one person died and two were injured in the Amil explosion, police said.

Also Sunday, snipers fired on an Iraqi army checkpoint, killing two soldiers and a civilian in the eastern Zayona neighborhood of Baghdad. A roadside bomb killed an Iraqi soldier on a patrol in Mansour, a mostly Sunni area in the city's west, police officials said.

Two civilians were killed in an armed attack in the town of Khan Bani Saad by a group believed tied to al-Qaida, a police official in Diyala province said. The town is near the provincial capital of Baqouba.

The same official said two Iraqi soldiers were killed and 10 wounded when a bomb targeted them in Balad Ruz, 45 miles northeast of Baghdad late Saturday.

Also Sunday, an Iraqi official said the country signed preliminary deals with General Electric Co. and Siemens AG to upgrade the electricity grid, which has been ravaged by years of war, sanctions and neglect.

Lengthy power outages have been common in Iraq, with some Baghdad areas getting as little as four hours of electricity a day. The problem has been a major cause of discontent during the summer when the heat is punishing.

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Associated Press writers Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Bushra Juhi contributed to this report.

Comments

[wolf58]

Lets see if McCain would like to say that this is part of the success of the surge he so freely speaks of. In case anyone cares 23 US service members have died so far this month but hey I guess that to is a sign of Bush/McCains success, Right McCain, Graham and Lieberman. Bush and McCain have this in common they will keep looking for that victory of wars past no matter how many young fine American troops it cost us.

[SherryIndianapolis]

Twenty names George S. recognized yesterday on This Week.

Twenty families, just sick about this. Twenty funerals. And this administration sees them as incidental collateral.

[CHARLESTHETENTH]

Sounds all to familiar. Our country being no different...only in our case it is not Christians but Third Party Candidates. They have been shut out of our Democratic system of fairness for all to be represented. It is obvious that this is a planned and purposeful move by the Two Major Parties to remove any threat to their Sovereign positions. When you hear both Major Party candidates for President state that one of them will be the next President it becomes a foregone conclusion there is no one else to consider, at least not in their eyes. Shame of both of them for not taking a position in favor of equal representation for all those seeking the Office of President of the US. It was at one time spoken aloud as the American dream that any one of us could become President of the US if we set our minds to it. Not so, as we have come to see unless you are initiated into one of the Two Major Parties Hall of Shame !!

[LorettaSingbiel]

Sounds like you're not going to vote for Obama/Biden ...

So IF we get FOUR MORE YEARS OF HELL ... I'll blame YOU!!!

OBAMA/BIDEN '08!
HOPE and CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN!!!

[evgolightly]

But Sarah Palin said we're winning the war in Eye Raaak!

Viva la surge.

[Palemoon]

Another week, another 30+ dead and 100+ wounded start to the week. This is what, 3 or 4 weeks in a row?

What was that about the surge working? All of this in Baghdad where the majority of our forces are!

[NJCPA]

The sad part is the Surge is almost working in Baghdad. Just don't go outisde of the city.

Yeah you can keep meat cool in a refrigerator. You just better hope the power never goes off. As soon as the we pull out, it's back to a 1,000 years of civil war. Who is McCain trying to fool? (Oh yeah, the same people Bush did)

[bascombe]

THREE CHEERS FOR THE SURGE!!!

[imusintheevening]

But don't they understand? The SURGE worked.

[xmw]

But the surge. I tell you the surge is working!!! Who are you going to believe...me or your own lying eyes???

I am John McSurge and I approve this lie.

[raw915]

surge is working; john said so...

Oba.ma was right...the only way out is to leave and don't look back...

what is vic.tory? we can stay one year, five years, twenty years. makes no difference. the day we leave, the fac.tions will be right back at each other's thr.oats.

[FixTheBroken]

And yet, this is not even news today. :-(

Surge has succeeded *sigh*

[ralph10]

I like what the one poster said. When the deaths were reported for the week they said well eight people died in a helicopter crash. They were saying it like it didn't count.Typical

[oldgoose]

Believe me, for those of us who have blood on the line every death and every wound is one we feel in the depth of our soul. We live with them every day, we cry for all of them, we would bleed for them if we could. We understand a war in which an enemy must be fought. We do not understand an army fielded for years to referee the thousand year old dispute of a people who are unwilling to change. The Anbar Awakening looks like it is already falling apar; McCain can keep singing the same song but I very much fear soon the news will overtake his message. I pray I am wrong! Oh, do I ever!

[ErnestineBass]

Time to bring our troops home.

So what if "we broke it"?

At this point, I couldn't care less. Sorry.

[Americatortures]

Surge good! Iraqis go BOOM in the night.....not good!!! But they're NOT Americans...so????

[Laws456]

Another reason as to why we need to leave Iraq ASAP. We've already destroyed the country, and there's no fixing that. The best thing we could now is move our troops and supplies out of Iraq and bring them home. When are people going to wake up? These wars aggravate me to no end. We are SPENDING way too much money in both countries. And if you don't think these wars have no relation to our current economic problems, you are not being realistic. I tire so much of listening to both parties trying to spin these wars. Neither one of them should have been waged. The CURRENT PRESIDENT is our biggest enemy. He and his Warhawk crew allowed 9/11 to happen, not some "knife" wielding terrorists who took over some planes. Those "terrorists" who "supposedly" hijacked those planes were on the FBI's most wanted list for years, but yet still, all of them managed to sneak inside our borders to train for this particular mission?? That's crap, and people need to realize that.

[atila]

so the "surge is working"...what is going to happen when all the sheiks don't recieve any more money from US???.....

[Americatortures]

American troops will go boom in the night again!!! Just sayin....why don't the Iraqi government officials-with some of the $80 BILLION surplus---pay off the sheiks instead of dead -busted America???