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2009-03-10 Iraq
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33 dead as Iraq tribal leaders attacked
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BAGHDAD (AP) -- A suicide bomber struck Sunni and Shiite tribal leaders touring a market after a reconciliation meeting west of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing 33 people in the second major attack in the capital area in two days.
Despite the ongoing violence, the top U.S. commander in Iraq said he does not believe the Iraqi government will ask Americans to remain in the country past a 2011 deadline set by a security agreement between the two countries.
The bombing -- which left clusters of bodies lying piled near the shabby market stalls lining the road -- was part of a spike of violence that comes as the U.S. military begins to draw down its forces.
The bomber detonated an explosives belt as the tribal leaders were walking through the market in the town of Abu Ghraib, accompanied by security officials and journalists, according to the Iraqi military.
Shakir Fizaa, the mayor of Abu Ghraib, blamed al-Qaida in Iraq. He said the tribal leaders had just left his office along with security officials after a reconciliation meeting and were talking to constituents in the market when the bombing occurred.
He said some people were wounded when police opened fire after the attack.
"This terrorist attack was aimed at stopping reconciliation and the improvement in the security situation," he told The Associated Press. "The criminal attack bears the fingerprints of al-Qaida, but we will not be deterred by the acts of the vicious group against innocent civilians."
Two Iraqi television journalists from the privately owned Baghdadiya station were among those killed in the attack, and a reporter from the state television was wounded.
Nobody claimed responsibility for the attack, but suicide operations are the hallmark of al-Qaida in Iraq. The U.S. military has said the terror network appears to be stepping up its campaign of bombings as it tries to make a comeback after being battered by recent U.S.-Iraqi military campaigns.
A suicide attacker killed 30 people on Sunday near the police academy in east Baghdad. 
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Posted by GolfBravoUSMC 2009-03-10 10:38||
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File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
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Posted by g(r)omgoru 2009-03-10 13:45||
2009-03-10 13:45||
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