Shiite funeral bombed; 32 dead

More attacks brought the day's death toll to 53.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- A suicide bomber struck a funeral for a Shiite politician's nephew Wednesday, killing at least 32 mourners, wounding dozens and splattering tombstones with blood -- part of a surge of violence as Iraqi leaders try to form a coalition government.
Altogether, 53 people died in the day's attacks, which included two car bombings in Baghdad and a militant ambush on a convoy of 60 oil tanker trucks heading from Iraq's biggest refinery to the capital. Nobody was injured in the attack on the drivers, which came three days after the reopening of the Beiji refinery, Iraq's largest.
The funeral bombing in Muqdadiyah, 60 miles north of Baghdad, bore hallmarks of Islamic extremist groups such as Al-Qaida in Iraq. Politicians said the attack was an attempt to hinder a broad-based government, or force the dominant Shiite alliance into further compromises. Shiites were said to be close to a deal on a coalition with Sunni Arabs and Kurds nearly three weeks after parliamentary elections.
Funeral disturbance
The bomber struck as more than 100 mourners chanted a ritual Islamic prayer, "There is no god but God." They were at the cemetery to bury a 14-year-old boy a day after he was killed in a failed assassination attempt on his uncle, Ahmed al-Bakka, the director of the local hospital.
Al-Bakka, who was not at the funeral, is the head of the local branch of the Dawa party. Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari leads the party, which is a main partner in the country's largest Shiite political coalition, the United Iraqi Alliance.
A senior Dawa official said such attacks were meant to exert pressure on the United Iraqi Alliance to accept a less than optimal compromise in the formation of the government.
"We expect attacks to increase before the formation of the government," Ali al-Adib said.
Final results from the Dec. 15 elections should be released within two weeks, and are expected to show the United Iraqi Alliance with about 130 of parliament's 275 seats. That figure is well short of the 184 needed to form a government.
Sunni disapproval
A partner in the largest Sunni Arab political group denounced the attack.
"The Islamic Party condemns such ugly acts that are aimed at dividing the country," said Nassir al-Ani. "The perpetrators want to cause divisions and hinder the political process in Iraq, but they will fail and we will establish a national unity government."
Shiites have been targeted by extremist Sunni Arab groups such as Al-Qaida in Iraq, led by Jordanian-born terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. His organization wants to force Iraq into a sectarian conflict to force U.S.-led coalition forces to leave.
In other violence:
U A car bomb exploded near an outdoor market in Baghdad's southern Dora district, killing seven people and wounding 15, police said.
U Another car bomb in northern Baghdad killed three civilians and a policeman, and wounded 13, said Maj. Mosa Abdelkareem.
U A roadside bomb targeting a U.S. patrol in Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, hit a civilian car instead, killing three passengers, said police Col. Polla Mohammed.
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