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Iraqi minister in civil war warning
Jul 9 01:02 PM US/Eastern
Iraq's foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari has warned that a quick American military withdrawal from the country could lead to civil war and the collapse of the government.
Attacks in Baghdad killed 13 people on Monday as
prominent Shiite and Sunni politicians called on Iraqi civilians to take up arms to defend themselves after a weekend of violence that claimed more than 220 lives, including one of the deadliest attacks of the four-year Iraqi conflict.
The burst of violence comes at a sensitive time. US forces are waging offensives in and around Baghdad aimed at uprooting militants and bringing calm to the capital.
Mr Zebari said Iraqis "understand the huge pressure that will increase more and more in the United States" ahead of the progress report by the US ambassador and top commander in Iraq.
"We have held discussion with members of Congress and explained to them the dangers of a quick pull-out (from Iraq) and leaving a security vacuum," Zebari said.
He continued: "The dangers could be a civil war, dividing the country, regional wars and the collapse of the state. In our estimations, until Iraqi forces are ready, there is a responsibility on the United States to stand with the (government) as the forces are being built."
The Iraqi calls for the arming of civilians to fight insurgents reflected the growing frustration with Iraqi security forces' inability to prevent extremists' attacks - such as Saturday's devastating suicide truck bombing in the Shiite town of Armili, north of Baghdad, that killed more than 160 people, according to the latest toll from police and officials.
The latest attacks in Baghdad followed a surge of bloodshed in the capital on Sunday, when around 60 Iraqis were killed in bombings, shootings and kidnap-slayings. A roadside bomb exploded in the central Nahda district in the morning killing a passer-by and wounding three others. Several hours later, an explosive-wired car detonated in the same area, killing two people and wounding six, a police official said.
In southern Baghdad, a suicide bomber set off an explosives-packed car into a joint Iraqi army-police patrol, killing four passers-by and a soldier in the violence-torn district of Dora, police said.
And around dawn, police discovered gunmen trying to plant bombs near the security wall surrounding the Sunni district of Azamiyah. In a gunbattle that followed, two soldiers and two policemen were killed, police said. There were no immediate reports about the casualties among the gunmen.
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