80 killed in latest outbreaks of violence in Iraq

At least 80 people were killed or found dead in Iraq on today, including 33 victims of a bomb attack on labourers lined up to find a day’s work in Baghdad’s Sadr city Shiite slum. The U.S. military announced the death of the 100th service member killed in combat this month.

US National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley made an unannounced visit to the Iraqi capital where he met with prime minister Nouri Maliki and his Iraqi counterpart for talks on military and political co-ordination, the government announced.

Hadley was accompanied in the talks by US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad.

Hadley’s trip was not announced in advance in keeping with security precautions taken for visits to Baghdad by senior US officials, said Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the National Security Council in Washington.

Johndroe said Hadley’s visit was not a fence-mending effort to deal with strains between Washington and Baghdad. “Absolutely not,” Johndroe said. “This is a long planned trip to get a first hand report of the situation on the ground from the political, economic and security fronts.”

In a snippet of conversation heard on a videotape of the beginning of the Maliki-Hadley meeting, the American official said, “I wanted to reinforce some of the things you have heard from our president".

The talks were held in the Green Zone offices of al-Maliki and Mouwafak al-Rubaie, Hadley’s counterpart, to follow up on a decision late last week to form a joint commission to co-ordinate U.S.-Iraqi relations, especially military activity.

The commission was established in a video conference Saturday between US president George Bush and Maliki, who has issued a series of critical statements about American policy in Iraq over the past week.

“The two sides discussed the work of the committee which agreed to by between the prime minister and the American president and is designed to co-ordinate development of the Iraqi security forces, expedite military training, reconciliation among Iraqis and the war against terrorism,” the government statement said.

The US Embassy confirmed Hadley’s visit, but gave few details.

“He is here as part of ongoing consultations with the Iraqi government,” said an Embassy official.

The past several days have been a particularly rough patch for US-Iraqi ties, with Maliki repeatedly declaring the United States was trying to impose timelines for progress without first seeking his approval.

At one point, he said he was a friend of the United States, but “I am not America’s man in Iraq".

The Bush administration has sought to down play any serious dispute and said Hadley was not on a fence-mending mission.

“I think that the press reports about the relationship being sensitive are overblown,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said told reporters on Air Force One as Bush travelled to campaign appearances.

The Embassy official said Hadley’s visit had not been publicly announced in advance. He said he comment on when Hadley would return to Washington.

In other violence gunmen killed hard-line Sunni academic Essam al-Rawi, head of the University Professors Union, as he was leaving home.

At least 156 university professors have been killed since the war began. Hundreds, possibly thousands, more are believed to have fled to neighbouring countries, although Education Ministry spokesman Basil al-Khatib al-Khatib said he had no specific numbers on those who have left the country.

The explosion in the sprawling Shiite slum of Sadr City tore through food stalls and kiosks at 6.15am local time, cutting down men who gather there each morning hoping to be hired as construction workers. At least 59 people were wounded, police Maj. Hashim al-Yasiri said.

Sadr City, is a stronghold of the Mahdi Army loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, and has been the scene of repeated bomb attacks by suspected al Qaida fighters seeking to incite Shiite revenge attacks and drag the country into full-blown civil war.

Ali Abdul-Ridha, injured on in the head and shoulders, said he was waiting for a job with his brother and about 100 others when he heard a massive explosion and “lost sight of everything.”

He said the area had been exposed to attack because U.S. and Iraqi forces had driven into hiding Mahdi fighters who usually provide protection in the tumbledown district on the north-east extreme of Baghdad.

“That forced Mahdi Army members, who were patrolling the streets, to vanish,” the 41-year-old Abdul-Ridha said from his bed in al-Sadr Hospital, his brother lying beside him asleep.

However, Falih Jabar, a 37-year old father of two boys, said the Mahdi Army was responsible for provoking extremists to attack civilians in the neighbourhood of 2.5 million people.

“We are poor people just looking to make a living. We have nothing to do with any conflict,” said Jabar, who suffered back wounds. “If (the extremists) have problems with the Mahdi Army, they must fight them, not us,” he added.

Also among those killed were a woman selling tea and three children ranging in age from 10 to 15 years, said police Capt. Khadhim Abbas Hamza and Rahim Qassim Jassim, deputy head of the local health directorate.

The US and Iraqi military have kept a tight cordon around Sadr City since a raid there last week in search of an alleged Shiite death squad leader, who was not found.

The last major bombing in Sadr City occurred on September 23 when a bomb hidden in a barrel blew up a kerosene tanker and killed at least 35 people waiting to stock up on fuel for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Along with rising civilian casualties, October is already the fourth deadliest month for American troops since the war began in March 2003. The other highest monthly death tolls were 107 in January 2005; 135 in April 2004, and 137 in November 2004.

The US military identified the latest casualty as a Marine assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5.

It said he died in combat yesterday in Anbar province west of Baghdad, a hotbed of the Sunni resistance to US forces and their Iraqi government allies.

The Marine’s name was withheld until the family was notified.