Iraq bombs kill 36, Sunnis stage protest rallies

Baghdad, Feb 8 (AP) Car bombs struck two outdoor markets and a group of taxi vans in Shiite areas across Iraq today, killing at least 36 people and wounding nearly 100 in the bloodiest day in more than two months, as minority Sunnis staged mass anti-government protests in a sign of mounting sectarian tensions. Tens of thousands of Sunni protesters rallied in five major cities against Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite accused of monopolising power. Sunni protest leaders have rejected a recent call by an al-Qaeda-linked group in Iraq to take up arms against the government, but there is concern militants are trying to exploit the discontent. In the city of Samarra, rally speaker Sheik Mohammed Jumaa sent a warning to the prime minister. "Stop tyranny and oppression," he said. "We want our rights. You will witness what other tyrants have witnessed before you." In the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi in the western Anbar province, demonstrators blocked the main highway to Jordan while rallies were held in the cities of Mosul and Tikrit. Earlier today, suspected Sunni insurgents detonated five car bombs, killing at least 37 people and wounding 97, health and police officials said. Today's bombings targeted an outdoor pet market in Baghdad's northern Kazimyah neighbourhood, a vegetable market in the town of Shomali in Hillah province, south of the Iraqi capital, and a stand for taxi vans on the edge of the southern city of Karbala. The assailants targeted particularly crowded areas with Iraqis known to converge on markets every Friday, the Muslim day of rest. The vans on the outskirts of Karbala were waiting for passengers returning from noon prayers. In Baghdad, the first car bomb exploded around mid-morning at the entrance to the Kazimyah market, two police officers said. When panicked shoppers tried to flee the area, a second parked car exploded a few meters (yards) away, according to the officers. The twin blasts turned several nearby cars into tangled piles of metal. At least 17 people were killed and 45 were wounded in the two blasts, police said. All the victims were civilians. About an hour later, two car bombs exploded simultaneously at the Shomali market, killing at least 14 people and wounding 36, two police officers said. The car bomb on the edge of Karbala killed five and wounded 16, police said. The current spike in attacks comes just over two months ahead of Iraq's April 20 provincial election, the first country-wide voting since the withdrawal of US forces more than a year ago. (AP) NKP KUN 02081907 NNNN