Iraq bombings leave scores dead

[maddezmom]

5 January 2012 Last updated at 08:20 ET

At least 68 people are reported to have been killed in bomb attacks in southern Iraq and in the capital Baghdad.

Officials said 44 people died in a suicide attack targeting Shia pilgrims in the city of Nasiriya.

Earlier, at least 24 people were killed in a number of blasts in Shia areas of Baghdad.

The attacks come amid a rise in sectarian tensions after the last US combat troops withdrew in December.

The BBC's Rafid Jabboori in Baghdad says Iraq is going through a severe political crisis and the situation in the country is tense.

more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16420554

[xchrom]

1. Du rec. Nt

[Stuart G]

2. k & r nt

[pampango]

3. Juan Cole contends al-Maliki blames Saudi Arabia for Sunni violence against Shiites in Iraq.

Turkey Warns against Sunni-Shiite Civil War in Mideast

http://www.juancole.com/2012/01/turkey-warns-against-sunni-shiite-civil-war-in-mideast.html

Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu Ahmet Davutoglu warned Wednesday in Tehran against a Sunni-Shiite civil war in the Middle East, which he said was being encouraged by some (unnamed) forces.

Sunni-Shiite tensions have flared in Iraq. On Wednesday, a series of bombs went off in Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad, killing 23 persons; the bombers clearly want to reignite Iraq’s sectarian civil war. At the same time, a political crisis continues to unfold. Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki accused Sunni vice president Tariq al-Hashimi of involvement in terrorist attacks, one of them aiming to assassinate al-Maliki itself. Al-Hashimi fled to Kurdistan and sought to have any legal proceedings against him take place there. An Iraqi court has instead ordered him to Baghdad. He is likely to flee the country rather than face al-Maliki- appointed judges. Al-Maliki’s charges against Hashimi have caused the largely Sunni Iraqiya Party to suspend its participation in his government of national unity. Al-Maliki blames Saudi influence for Sunni Arab violence against Shiites in Iraq.

Aside from any Sunni-Shiite basis for Saudi meddling in Iraq, Cole wrote a while back that SA won't stand for Iraq developing its oil reserves and exports past a certain point due to the effect that would have on the global oil price and Saudi income. He contended that Saudi supported Saddam for a long time partly because Iraq's oil exports never reflected the level of its reserves.

[madrchsod]

4. the saudi`s and saddam were reestablishing trade just before bush declared war.

as usual the usa had no idea what the real out come of the war would be...a shiite iraq with an alliance with iran.

[patrice]

5. Shia cross a lot of borders in the whole region:

http://www.energybulletin.net/node/47558