Roundup: Attacks mount in Iraq amid crackdown, political efforts

At least 50 people have been killed in attacks across Iraq in the past two days amid the US-led counterinsurgency campaign and efforts by the country's politicians to make a compromise over power-sharing.

In one of the deadliest cases, a man wearing an Iraqi army uniform blew himself up with nearly 30 other troops in a mess hall at an army base north of Baghdad. The explosion left 26 people dead and 29 others wounded.

A suicide attacker on the same day drove an explosive-laden vehicle close to a police patrol, killing at least eight policemen and wounding 23 others in Baghdad's eastern district of Zafaraniyah.

In the southwest of Baghdad, two mortar rounds hit houses, claiming five lives.

Police also reported seven dead in mortar attacks in Tal Afar, near the northern city of Mosul.

In the restive western city of Fallujah, where a security operation was being conducted, a US marine was killed in a roadside bomb blast Tuesday, bringing the US toll to more than 1, 700 since March 2003.

The surge of violence seems to represent a sign of defiance since the US military launched Operation Lightning in Baghdad on May 29. The insurgents have often mounted attacks to show strength whenever the US military unfolds a sweeping operation against them.

While the violence was going on, the country's Shiite politicians were luring in the Sunni Arab community with a power- sharing compromise in the making.

Hummam Hammoudi, chairman of the Shiite-dominated parliamentary committee charged with drafting Iraq's new constitution, said Wednesday that 13 Sunni Arabs could join the 55-member committee in a parallel body to make it a committee of 68 members.

But the offer was soon rejected by two Sunni Arab representatives, who insisted instead that 25 more Sunni Arabs should join them in the committee.

The two sides agreed to meet again Thursday to address the issue, which, if settled, is expected to ease tensions in a country where Shiites constitute the majority and the Sunnis the minority.

The Sunnis used to be the dominant power in the country, which is now under control of the Shiites with former president Saddam Hussein, himself a Sunni, in the US custody.

Most of the Sunni Arabs, taken as the core of insurgency, have boycotted Iraq's January elections. The country's 275-seat parliament has until Aug. 15 to draft a new constitution. A new general election may follow in December if the constitution is accepted.

Source: Xinhua