48 die in attack on Baghdad Shiite slum
(AP)
Updated: 2006-03-13 19:01

Al-Jaafari's candidacy for a second term as prime minister is one of the major issues in dispute as some Kurdish, Sunni and secular leaders argue he is too divisive and did too little to contain the sectarian violence that killed hundreds after being unleashed by the Feb. 22 destruction of the famed golden dome atop the Askariya shrine in Samarra.

Iraqis had feared such an attack like the one that hit the Shiite slum on Sunday was coming, especially after al-Sadr's fighters stormed out of the slum to take revenge on Sunni Muslims and their mosques after the Samarra attack.

"After Sadr City's reaction to the bombing of our holy shrine in Samarra, we were expecting bombing attacks," said Amer al-Husseini, a black-turbaned cleric who serves as an aide to al-Sadr.

He said the Mahdi Army militia had mobilized its members Sunday night.

The Iraqi Islamic Party, the country's largest Sunni Muslim group, condemned the bombings, which it said were "carried out by the enemies of our nation who don't like to see Iraqis united or living in a stable country."

In a statement, the group urged all Iraqi political groups to cooperate "in order to put an end to the bloodshed that has targeted all Iraqis of all religions and sects and to speed the formation of a national unity government that works for the security of citizens."

On March 4, Gen. John Abizaid, chief of the U.S. Central Command, also predicted another such attack by terrorists trying to spark all-out civil war in the country.

"They'll find some other place that's undefended, they'll strike it and they'll hope for more sectarian violence," the general said after a two-day visit to Baghdad.

Formation of a strong central government is key to U.S. hopes to announce troop withdrawals beginning this summer. Key military leaders were expected to make recommendations on that step in meetings with President Bush in the coming days. The intensification of Khalilzad's political efforts appeared dictated by the need for progress before the coming meetings in Washington.

In a bid to ease sectarian tension, the Iraqi defense and interior ministries announced Sunday they would share intelligence and conduct all future raids jointly. Members of the Sunni Arab minority accuse Shiite militiamen operating within the ranks of the police and Interior Ministry of carrying out extrajudicial killings and abductions.

"Brothers, we have to pull out by the roots the evil which is trying to destroy this country," Defense Minister Saadoun al-Dulaimi, a Sunni, said at a joint news conference with Shiite Interior Minister Bayan Jabr.