The bloody assaults on Sadr City came only minutes after leaders of Iraq's main ethnic and religious blocs said the new Parliament would convene March 16, three days earlier than planned, as U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad pushed to break a stalemate over naming a unity government.

The attackers struck with car bombs, including a suicide driver, and mortars at the peak shopping time, destroying dozens of market stalls and vehicles as the explosives ripped through the poor neighborhood, which is controlled by radical anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, as residents were buying food for their evening meals.

Bomb blasts, rocket and gunfire also killed at least 12 other people -- 10 in Baghdad -- and wounded 34 March 12.

The Japan Times Weekly: March 18, 2006
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