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Iraqi Police Recover More Than 70 Bodies as Reprisal Attacks Mount
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=115A33A:3919ACA Security officials
say the bodies found Tuesday had their hands and feet bound and
victims had been strangled Iraqi police say they have recovered more
than 70 bodies in and around Baghdad over the past day, in an apparent
surge of sectarian reprisal attacks.

In one instance, 15 corpses were found crammed into an abandoned truck
in western Baghdad. Police say the victims appeared to have been
strangled.

The latest bloodshed -- the second wave of mass killings in the past
three weeks - followed a string of bombings Sunday that killed about
50 people and wounded more than 200 others in a Shi'ite section of
Baghdad.

The Iraqi Interior Ministry has banned driving in Baghdad, ahead of
the opening session of parliament later this week. Political leaders
opened meetings Tuesday aimed at reaching agreement on who will head a
new Cabinet.

Sunni Arabs and Kurds are opposing a new term for interim Prime
Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who is a Shi'ite.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani says terrorists trying to trigger
all-out civil war in Iraq are taking advantage of the country's
political stalemate.

President Bush has urged Iraq's leaders to put aside their differences
in favor of a unity government.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.


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