Baghdad police find 56 tortured bodies

US National Intelligence Director John Negroponte met with the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, yesterday amid spiralling violence that included four American deaths and the discovery of 56 bodies bearing signs of torture.

The bodies found scattered around the Iraqi capital were of men aged between 20 and 45, all apparent victims of sectarian death squads, police said.

All wore civilian clothes and had been bound at the wrists and ankles, police Lieutenant Mohammed Khayon said. He said the bodies showed signs of having been tortured, a common practice among religious extremists.