A flurry of morning bombs killed 10 people and
wounded 34 around Baghdad Sunday, police said, in what one Iraqi
official called an attempt to undermine security ahead of a much
anticipated meeting of Arab heads of state in two months.
The three-hour drumbeat of explosions began around 7 a.m. in
Baghdad's rush hour at the start of the local work week. The Iraqi
intelligence official said the attacks were trying to present the
country as dangerous because Arab heads of state and their large
retinues plan to meet in Baghdad in late March for the annual Arab
League summit.
The attacks appear to be a mixture of roadside bombings, suicide
bombers and car bombs.
Police said at least two car bombs exploded, apparently targeting
police patrols, killing two policemen and a bystander, while two
other people were killed when the offices of the government sewage
department in downtown was bombed.
In the city's northern Kazimiyah suburb, another bomb exploded as
a bus of Iranian pilgrims drove by, killing one and injuring nine.
Shiite pilgrims make daily visits to the gold domed shrine of
Kazimiyah, where two of Shiism's revered imams are buried. It was
not immediately clear if the blast was caused by a car bomb or a
suicide bomber.
Just north of Baghdad, in the town of Taji, a car bomb killed a
farmer and his son heading to a nearby market to sell their crops.
In the nearby town of Tarmiyah, once an insurgent stronghold, a bomb
planted outside a school went off, killing two young boys.
The casualties were all confirmed by hospital workers, and all
officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not
authorized to brief the media.
Violence in Iraq has dropped dramatically since just a few years
ago when daily death tolls sometimes were in the hundreds from
sectarian killings.
But small scale bombings and drive-by shootings still persist on
a near daily basis.
No group immediately took responsibility for the bombings, but a
senior Iraqi intelligence official said they appeared to be the work
of insurgents taking advantage of the government's delay in
appointing a new interior minister, who runs the nation's security
forces.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is still weighing who to name to
the nation's top defense, interior and national security posts,
saying he wants to ensure they are filled by apolitical candidates.
The intelligence official also called the bombings a message to
the world that Iraq is not ready to provide security for the Arab
League when Baghdad hosts the annual two-day summit, beginning March
23, for the first time in 20 years.
Hosting the summit would be an important step for Iraq to not
only showcase its return to stability after years of violence, but a
chance to mend frayed ties with its Arab neighbors.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not
authorized to brief the media.
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Associated Press writers Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Lara Jakes
contributed to this report.
