Bombers strike Shia stronghold in Baghdad

More than fifty people were killed in Baghdad yesterday as sectarian violence continued to convulse Iraq. In the deadliest assault at least 44 people were killed and more than 200 were wounded in a number of coordinated blasts in Sadr City, the sprawling Shia slum in north-east Baghdad.

A suicide bomber detonated his explosives as a car bomb exploded with near-simultaneous precision and tore through two packed markets. Police defused a another car bomb as four mortar rounds slammed into the ground near by.

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Until yesterday's attack Sadr City had been relatively free of violence in the past two years thanks, in part, to the presence of the Mehdi Army militia loyal to the radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. But Iraqis feared such an attack was coming, especially after Mr Sadr's fighters stormed out the slum to take revenge on Sunni Muslims after the bombing last month of the golden-domed mosque in Samarra, a Shia shrine. "After Sadr City's reaction to the bombing of our holy shrine we were expecting attacks," said Amer al-Husseini, a cleric who serves as an aide to Mr Sadr.

According to Associated Press, Sadr City residents began firing Kalashnikovs into the air as they raced to collect the charred bodies from the burning shops and vehicles. Furious residents kicked what little remained of the suicide bomber who targeted one of the markets. According to reports, the man appeared to be of African origin.

Many shops were totally demolished by the huge explosions. "People were torn to pieces," a witness said. "Nobody knows the number of casualties. It's a lot." The death toll was expected to rise overnight.

The Iraqi Islamic Party, the country's largest Sunni Muslim group, condemned the bombings and said they were the work of "enemies of our nation who don't like to see Iraqis united or living in a stable country".

Earlier in the day a roadside bomb exploded in a busy west Baghdad street killing at least six people and wounding 12, police said. Iraqi politicians had been hoping that the wave of sectarian violence sparked by the bombing of the Samarra mosque was abating.

The explosions in Sadr City came moments after Jalal Talabani, Iraq's President, announced he was bringing forward the first session of parliament by three days to 16 March to avoid clashing with a Shia festival. "The presidency council took this decision after consulting all parties involved, in order to give the security forces time to ... prepare for the [Shia ceremony of] Arbain," said a statement from Mr Talabani's office. The announcement showed how vulnerable religious festivals are to attack from insurgents intent on civil war.

Iraqi leaders held a meeting yesterday with the US ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, to try to end the stalemate over talks aimed at forming a government which could unite Iraqis and end the killings. Negotiations on a unity government have been deadlocked since parliamentary elections last December in which the Shia majority gained the most seats.

Mr Khalilzad said some progress had been made but admitted a permanent government needed to be in place quickly to fill the "vacuum in authority" at a time of continuing efforts by "terrorists to provoke sectarian conflict".

Mr Talabani, a Kurd, stood at the side of the Shia leader Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim and other Kurdish, Sunni Arab and secular leaders to say that daily negotiations would continue to try to form a new government. We have to get Iraq out of the situation it is in now," Mr al-Hakim said.

Washington needs Iraq's divided political leaders to reach an agreement, and hopes an inclusive government will foster stability and allow the United States to start bringing home some of its 130,000 troops.

George Bush will deliver the first in a new series of speeches today aimed at convincing Americans that his policies are on track for success and that the US will soon be able to start withdrawing troops, as the public overwhelmingly wants.