KUFA, Iraq (Reuters):
A SUICIDE bomber killed 59 people in a crowded Iraqi market yesterday after luring Shi'ite day labourers aboard his minivan with an offer of casual work.
The blast in Kufa, near Najaf, was one of the bloodiest attacks of the year and followed a gun and grenade attack on another market on Monday that killed a similar number.
Clashes broke out between police and angry crowds demanding better security after the Kufa bomb, which also wounded 132 people in the city south of Baghdad.
The bloodshed has dealt a blow to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's efforts to promote national reconciliation and avoid a slide toward sectarian civil war. Nearly 6,000 civilians were killed in May and June alone, a new United Nations report estimated.
Maliki, a Shi'ite who has offered a dialogue with some Sunni insurgent groups since he took office in April, pledged to 'hunt down and punish' those responsible.
As the two-month-old, United States-backed coalition government struggles to put a lid on mounting sectarian anger, it is also trying to ease popular grievances with the promise of investment and better economic times ahead after decades of decline.
A bill to attract foreign capital by setting rules for investors for the first time since the fall of Saddam Hussein is likely to be approved in cabinet today and to be passed by parliament this month, Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih told Reuters.
Foreigners hoping to buy into Iraq's vast oil reserves, however, will have to wait a few more months for a similar law.
