At least 19 killed in attack near oil tanker
A United Arab Emirates diplomat was kidnapped in Baghdad.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Gunmen attacked a parking lot in a Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad on Tuesday, shooting the guards and detonating a car bomb near an oil tanker. At least 19 people were killed and dozens wounded.
The attack unfolded in the northern commercial district of Shaab, where police Capt. Ali al-Obeidi said the gunmen first shot five guards at the open-air lot that served as a parking area and small market.
As bystanders rushed to the scene to rescue the victims, a car bomb blew up next to an oil tanker, which exploded in a fireball. AP Television News footage showed the remnants of an exploded car and sandals and clothes of the dead and injured.
The attack seemed to be aimed at killing as many people as possible. The motive was unclear, but it may have been sectarian.
Police also said a United Arab Emirates diplomat was kidnapped in Baghdad late Tuesday. The diplomat was not identified. At least six other Arab embassy workers have been kidnapped since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, some by al-Qaida in Iraq to undercut support for the U.S.-backed government among Arab countries.
Also Tuesday, a U.S. soldier died when a roadside bomb exploded near Rasheed airfield, a former Iraqi air force installation in Baghdad. Two other soldiers were killed Monday when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb near Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad.
Iraqi government
Escalating violence across the country left at least 36 people dead Tuesday as Iraq's prime minister-designate announced he was close to forming a new government before a May 22 deadline -- though other groups claimed there's a long way to go.
Any final agreement appeared to hinge on whether the largest Shiite bloc in parliament could strike a deal with the largest Sunni Arab bloc over the interior and defense ministries.
Prime Minister-designate Nouri al-Maliki said his Cabinet was "mostly complete" after meeting with deputies from the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance party, which controls 130 seats in the 275-member parliament.
At least one Western diplomat in Baghdad who was well informed about the negotiations said he thought al-Maliki would name a full Cabinet by Monday's constitutionally mandated deadline. He did not want to be identified because of the sensitivity of the talks.
But Sunnis -- represented by their dominant bloc, the Iraqi Accordance Front -- have pressed for a complete deal. They have insisted on the Defense Ministry, which controls the army, to offset the Shiite-dominated Interior Ministry, which controls the police.
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