Leaders of Iraq’s main political blocs began a round of marathon meetings today with the US ambassador in an attempt to reach agreement on a broad-based government.

The feared resumption of mass sectarian violence erupted in a Baghdad Shiite slum when bombers blew apart two markets, killing at least 44 people and wounding about 200.

A SUICIDE bomber and a car bomb ripped apart a market yesterday in a Shi’ite slum in Baghdad, killing at least 39 people and wounding more than 100.