Bombs Kill Dozens Just Miles From Baghdad Peace Conference

[babylonsister]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070310/ts_afp/iraqsecurityconference_070310142513

Iraq urges neighbours to halt terror as bombs kill 35

by Bryan Pearson 1 hour, 30 minutes ago

BAGHDAD (AFP) -
Iraq made an impassioned plea on Saturday for its neighbours, including Iran and Syria, to halt their alleged support for violent extremists, as insurgent attacks slaughtered at least 35 more Iraqis.

The urgency of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's appeal was underlined when, in a suspected insurgent attack, three mortar rounds detonated next to the foreign ministry while peace talks took place inside.

Meanwhile, three kilometres (two miles) away in Shiite east Baghdad, a bomber slammed a truck laden with explosives into an army checkpoint at the entrance to Sadr City, killing 26 people, officials said.

A short distance away a second suicide attacker killed two more people at another checkpoint, while insurgent bomb and gun attacks around the country accounted for at least seven more lives.

Sadr City is an almost exclusively Shiite area of east Baghdad which is at the centre of a large-scale US and Iraqi security operation.

As the explosions and gunfire echoed around Baghdad, Maliki launched a day of talks with delegates from Middle Eastern states and from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

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[pampango]

1. In the last seconds of their lives, both bombers were probably

bummed that they were going to have to explode their bombs at army checkpoints. The real targets were more likely those Shiite civilians, who "occupy" Iraq, who would be shopping at a market or going to school.