At least 17 dead after another day of violence

Several bombings rocked a city south of the capital.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Bombs exploded for a second straight day Monday in the public market of a religiously mixed town south of Baghdad, killing five people, as Sunni lawmakers boycotted parliament to demand the release of a colleague they suspect was kidnapped by Shiite militiamen.
Two blasts ripped through the outdoor market in Mahmoudiya -- the first about 12:30 p.m. and the second four hours later. Three people were killed and 22 wounded in the first blast, police Lt. Mohammed Khayoun said. The toll for the second was two dead and three injured, he added.
Late Sunday, three people were killed and 10 others wounded in a blast in the same market in Mahmoudiya, a flashpoint of sectarian conflict between Shiites who live inside the town and Sunnis who form the majority in surrounding farm communities.
Other violence
At least 11 other people were killed Monday, including a U.S. Marine who died in fighting in Anbar province west of the capital, according to Iraqi and U.S. officials. The U.S. military also reported an American soldier died Sunday in a roadside bombing north of Baghdad.
Rising sectarian tensions threaten to undermine Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's plan to restore stability in Iraq and stem the slide toward civil war.
U.S. officials hoped al-Maliki's government of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds, which took office in May, can win public confidence, reach out to Sunni insurgents and clamp down on sectarian militias.
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