Iraqis told to arm themselves

Abbas al-Bayati, a Shi'ite Turkman lawmaker, said yesterday that, in the absence of enough security forces, the Iraqi government should help residents "arm themselves" for their own protection.

The call to arms for civilians was echoed by the country's Sunni Arab vice president, Tariq al- Hashemi, who said "the people have no choice but to take up their own defense."

The idea of organizing communities to handle their own defense has been gaining support here after the success that Sunni Arab tribes in Anbar Province have had in driving Al Qaeda from their towns and villages.

Yesterday's deadliest attack occurred when a bomb struck a truckload of newly recruited Iraqi soldiers on the outskirts of Baghdad, killing 15 and wounding 20, police said.

Also yesterday, two car bombs exploded almost simultaneously in Baghdad's mostly Shi'ite Karradah district, killing eight people. The first detonated at 10:30 a.m. near a closed restaurant, destroying stalls and soft drink stands. Two passersby were killed and eight hurt, a police official said.

About five minutes later, the second car exploded about a mile away near shops selling leather jackets and shoes. Six people were killed and seven wounded, the official said.

The Karradah area includes the offices of the Supreme Islamic Council in Iraq, the biggest Shi'ite party in Parliament, and is considered among the safest parts of the capital.

Elsewhere, a bomb hidden under a car detonated yesterday at the entrance of Shorja market -- a mostly Shi'ite area of central Baghdad that has been hit repeatedly by insurgents -- killing three civilians and wounding five, police said.

The weekend deaths included two American soldiers -- one killed yesterday in a suicide bombing on the western outskirts of Baghdad and another who died in combat Saturday in Salahuddin Province north of the capital, the US command said. Three soldiers were wounded in yesterday's blast.

Police also reported they found the bodies of 29 men yesterday scattered across Baghdad -- presumed victims of sectarian death squads. Four other people were killed in separate shootings in Baghdad, police said.