BAGHDAD (Reuters):
CAR BOMBS killed at least 62 Iraqis yesterday as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki prepared for a White House visit expected to focus on halting what many see as Iraq's accelerating slide toward all-out sectarian civil war.
Two separate blasts killed 42 civilians in Sadr City, a sprawling Baghdad slum that is a stronghold of the Shi'ite Mehdi Army militia. It came a day after the inaugural meeting of a commission to develop reconciliation strategies for Iraq's rival ethnic and religious factions ended with no obvious result.
Another car bomb exploded in the northern city of Kirkuk, killing at least 20 civilians outside a courthouse, police and witnesses said. Saddam Hussein, whose iron rule was ended by the United States (U.S.). invasion three years ago, was fed through a tube after 16 days on a hunger strike and the chief prosecutor said he would not attend court today.
A U.S. military spokesman said the 69-year-old former president was not in critical condition.
