Violence in Iraq precedes summit

BAGHDAD – Fifty people died and more than 200 were wounded Tuesday in Iraq in a series of bombings and small-arms attacks that heightened worries about the safety of Arab leaders scheduled to attend a summit meeting here March 29.

The attacks took place in seven of Iraq’s 18 provinces, a reminder that three months after the last U.S. troops withdrew security remains a concern in much of the country.

In the wake of the attacks, Iraqi officials announced that they would declare an official holiday in Baghdad starting Sunday and running through April 1 in an effort to limit vehicular traffic on the days surrounding the Arab League summit – the first ever to be held in the Iraqi capital. The uprising in Syria is expected to be the summit’s major topic.

Officials said it was also likely that a curfew would be declared in Baghdad during the summit to further limit movement by would-be bombers.

Tuesday’s violence was surprisingly widespread, striking not just the capital, but locations to the east, west, north and south. Medical authorities predicted the death toll would rise because many of the wounded are in serious condition.

In Baghdad, the attacks included a suicide car bomb, two parked car bombs and four roadside bombs that claimed the lives of eight people and wounded 41. In a separate attack, gunmen fired on guards at a church in the Mansour district, killing three.

There was no claim of responsibility.

A security official told McClatchy Newspapers that while the attacks had the hallmarks of al-Qaida, they also could be the result of infighting among Iraqi political parties trying to undermine one another’s credibility just before the summit meetings.

“It seems they (the political parties) will never stop. They will continue this war for supremacy until the very end. So until political issues are resolved at the top level, we will see no peace.” he said.

Only Monday, Iraqi authorities began practicing security procedures for the summit, flooding existing checkpoints with large numbers of special forces troops and setting up new checkpoints, where they searched cars with dogs, looking for explosives.