By Lutfi Abu-Oun
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Two bombs exploded near a Shi’ite Muslim mosque in Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least 15 people and wounding nearly 60 others, as Iraq’s feuding leaders try to ease sectarian tensions.
As scores of people inspected the damage caused by the first blast, a roadside bomb, a suicide bomber in a car drove into the crowd and blew himself up.
In a similar co-ordinated attack earlier in the day, suicide car bombers launched twin attacks inside a police academy compound in the town of Tikrit, 150 km (90 miles) north of Baghdad, killing at least seven people and wounding dozens.
A police official said 57 people were wounded in the attack near the mosque in the mostly Shi’ite Shu’la district of Baghdad.
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The bombings come at a volatile time when Iraqi politicians are trying to calm tensions as they argue over the make up of a government.
Iraq’s newly empowered Shi’ites and Kurds are trying to form an alliance for a cabinet while the once privileged Sunnis, whose members are leading an insurgency, have been sidelined.
Politicians have promised to include Sunnis in the new political landscape but they have seen no tangible signs those promises will be delivered.
Al Qaeda’s Iraqi wing threatened on Sunday to kill fellow Sunni Muslims who join the country’s new government, saying they would be considered infidels.
DOUBLE STRIKE
Like the Baghdad attack, bombers in Tikrit attacked a crowd of people at the scene of blast which had occurred minutes earlier.
A bomber drove into the compound and blew up his vehicle among a crowd of policemen, killing several, according to accounts provided by witnesses to a reporter working for Reuters.
As police and passers-by rushed to help those hit in the blast, a second car bomber entered the compound and detonated his vehicle, the witnesses said.
A doctor at Tikrit’s hospital, Mohammed Ayash, said seven bodies had been brought in and as many as 26 people were wounded. All those killed were police, while both civilians and police were among the wounded.
Al Qaeda’s wing in Iraq said that a pair from its "martyrs brigade" carried out the attack, according to an Internet posting. It was not possible to verify the authenticity of the statement.
Tikrit is the hometown of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein. It has seen frequent outbreaks of violence, including a car bomb blast outside the U.S. military’s headquarters in the town last week.
AL QAEDA WARNING
Iraqi and U.S. officials have accused al Qaeda’s Iraqi wing of bombing Shi’ite targets in a bid to spark a civil war.
"We warn all those who want to join the politics of infidels and apostates that the steel sword will be their only fate," the group, led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, said in a statement posted on a Web site used by Islamic militants.
A car bomb blew up outside a Shi’ite mosque in Baghdad as prayers were ending on Friday, killing 11 people and wounding 17, Iraqi police and hospital sources said.
Although some Sunni Muslims say Shi’ite militiamen have assassinated former members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party, they have not carried out large-scale attacks on Sunnis. Top Shi’ite clerics have told their followers to avoid violence.
Prime minister-designate Ibrahim Jaafari will present a list of ministers to parliament on Monday, taking Iraq a step closer to a government, lawmakers said.
Under Iraq’s interim constitution, the 275-seat assembly must approve the prime minister and his cabinet by a simple majority. Judging by the recent performance of the parliament, that could take some time, further frustrating Iraqis.
Insurgent attacks have returned to the levels seen over the last two years, with suicide bombings, shootings and kidnappings overshadowing the political process.
At least three American military personnel were killed in Iraq this weekend, the U.S. military said.
The plight of three Romanian hostages, meanwhile, highlighted the security crisis, where over 150 foreigners and thousands of Iraqis have been taken hostage. Many have been released but some were beheaded.
Militants threatened on Friday to kill the journalists unless Romania pulls out its soldiers within four days. They were shown in a videotape aired by Al Jazeera, sitting on the floor barefoot, apparently handcuffed. Masked men stood by with guns.
Pakistan said one of its embassy workers, Malik Mohammad Javed, who was kidnapped in Iraq this month had been released.
