NYT : Violence Flares Across Baghdad

Violence Flares Across Baghdad

By EDWARD WONG and NAZILA FATHI | September 13, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Sept. 13 — Violence flared across Baghdad today, as 60 bodies were reported found and at least 18 people died in attacks on the police, a day after Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki traveled to Iran to seek support in quelling the conflicts that threaten to fracture his country.

The American military today reported the deaths of two soldiers, one killed by a roadside bomb south of Baghdad late Tuesday, the other killed on Monday in combat in Anbar province in the country’s west.

In Tehran, Mr. Maliki met with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and declared afterwards that “even in security issues, there is no barrier in the way of cooperation.”

For his part, Mr. Ahmadinejad said, “Iran will give its assistance to establish complete security in Iraq, because Iraq’s security is Iran’s security.” It was not clear what form Iranian support on security would take, or how it would be regarded by the American authorities here.

Mr. Maliki’s visit occurred against a backdrop of increasing accusations from the American ambassador in Baghdad, Zalmay Khalilzad, and from American military commanders, that some elements in Iran are stoking the violence in Iraq.

American generals have said that people or groups in Iran are providing training and financing to Shiite militias in Iraq. Mr. Khalilzad said last month that Iran was urging Shiite militias to step up attacks on the American-led forces in retaliation for the Israeli assault on Lebanon.

The violence reported today, however, appeared to be a continuation of the wave of sectarian killings that has racked the country for months. Interior Ministry officials said that over the past 24 hours, 60 bodies were discovered along the banks of the Tigris River — 45 in Sunni-dominated western Baghdad and 15 in the city’s east, where Shiites are the majority.

Also today, a bomb exploded near an Iraqi police patrol at about 9:15 a.m., killing one officer and nine civilians and injuring at least 33 people, officials said. About two hours later, eight officers died when a car bomb went off near a police station in the Zayona neighborhood. At least 19 people were wounded in that blast.

In addition to the American charges of Iranian complicity in violence, many Sunni Arab leaders in the region fear that Iraqi Shiite politicians are increasingly being drawn into the Iranian sphere of influence. More broadly, they fear the emergence of a “Shiite crescent” stretching from Iran. through Iraq and Syria, to Lebanon — all nations that have significant Shiite populations.

Mr. Maliki’s visit to Tehran, however, was not the first time since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein that an Iraqi prime minister visited Iran. His predecessor, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, made the trip in July 2005.

For Mr. Maliki, as for Mr. Jaafari, the visit was a kind of homecoming, because they both spent parts of their exile years during Saddam Hussein’s rule living here. Many members of Mr. Maliki’s Shiite political group, the Islamic Dawa Party, fled to Iran to escape Mr. Hussein’s security forces. Mr. Maliki said the American accusations of Iranian interference in Iraq will have no effect on existing agreements between the countries.

“All the political, security and economic accords that have been signed with the Islamic republic’s officials will be carried out,” he said.

Mr. Maliki is leading a large delegation that includes Mowaffak al-Rubaie, the Iraqi national security adviser, who is close to some Iranian officials. The Iraqis are scheduled to meet today with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, and Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a powerful former president.

In the southern Iraqi city of Najaf, another Shiite leader close to Iran, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, defended his decision last week to ask Parliament to endorse a mechanism allowing Iraqi provinces to form autonomous regions. “We think that federalism is one of the administrative ways that helps to secure our rights, remove oppression and prevent sectarian discrimination among people of one country and one belief,” Mr. Hakim said.

Mr. Hakim’s move has spurred the legislators who answer to Moktada al-Sadr, a radical Shiite cleric, to unite with Parliament’s main Sunni Arab and secular blocs to try to sink Mr. Hakim’s plan.

Mr. Sadr, a longtime foe of Mr. Hakim, fears that if the plan goes into effect, Mr. Hakim will emerge as the ruler of the oil-rich southern region, Iraqi political experts say. The Sunni Arabs are especially opposed to the idea of regional autonomy because their provinces lack oil.

Edward Wong reported from Baghdad and Nazila Fathi from Tehran. John O’Neil contributed reporting from New York.