Iraq car bombs kill 21

BAGHDAD - CAR bombs struck three Shi'ite cities in southern Iraq on Monday, killing more than 20 people in an apparent move to derail progress toward forming a new government as political leaders tried to break the eight-month deadlock.


The blasts in the holy cities of Karbala and Najaf and in Iraq's second largest city of Basra were the third major attacks since last week, after the slaughter of more than 50 Christians in a Baghdad church and a string of 13 coordinated bombings across Baghdad that killed more than 90 people.

There was no claim of responsibility for Monday's attacks, but the violence underscores the desire of Al-Qaeda and other Sunni extremists to foment sectarian division at a time when Iraqis are watching to see if their leaders can form a new government accepted by both the Shi'ite majority and the Sunni minority.

In the northern town of Irbil, leaders of Iraq's major political blocs met on Monday for the first time since parliamentary elections in March. The 90-minute televised session, the start of three days of talks, did not lead to a breakthrough.

The battle is largely a contest between the Iranian-favored coalition of Shi'ite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki along with followers of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr against a Sunni-backed secular coalition led by former prime minister Ayad Allawi.

At stake is whether Iraq has an inclusive government of both the majority Shi'ites and the minority Sunnis or a Shi'ite-dominated government with the Sunnis largely in opposition - a recipe that many worry will turn the country back to the sectarian violence of a few years ago. -- AP