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Shoes and clothes were left scattered on the ground where the bodies of at least 12 people who had been shot and killed were found buried at a garbage dump in Baghdad.

May 7, 2005
Insurgents Kill 26 More Iraqis; Tentative Deal on Completing Cabinet Is Reported
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr.

BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 6 - Insurgents killed at least 26 Iraqis and wounded 48 more on Friday when a suicide bomber struck a public market in Suwaira, a town near Baghdad riven by sectarian violence, and another bomber attacked a bus carrying Iraqi policemen in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit.

More than 200 Iraqis, most of them policemen or soldiers, have been killed in the last eight days in one of the most lethal stretches of violence since the invasion two years ago.

In northeast Baghdad, a worker digging with a shovel discovered the corpses of 12 men in their 20's and 30's who had been tortured, shot in the head execution-style and buried at least a week earlier, the Iraqi police said. An Iraqi police captain investigating the crime said the bodies had broken legs and arms and rope burns on their necks.

Amid the continued bloodshed, there were suggestions of a possible significant political breakthrough late Friday: Aides to the nation's top Shiite and Sunni lawmakers said they had reached a tentative agreement on the appointment of a new defense minister.

If the deal were to hold, it would end a drawn-out political logjam that has hurt relations between the Sunnis and Shiites and, in the view of American officials, contributed to increased insurgent violence.

But Iraqi leaders have time and again announced deals for top government posts, only to see their predictions fall apart.

The Shiite and Sunni aides would not identify the would-be defense minister, saying the name would be disclosed soon. While they said Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish leaders had given their approval, Iraq's three-member presidency council and National Assembly must also sign off.

"It's done; we have a conclusion," Ahmad Najati, a spokesman for the highest-ranking Sunni Arab in the new government, Vice President Ghazi al-Yawar, said Friday night. A senior aide to Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Laith Kubba, also said there was a tentative deal.

But Kurdish officials, who could effectively veto the nomination, could not be reached for comment. And a senior Shiite aide cautioned that on high-profile matters like this one, nothing is ever certain until the name is formally announced by the prime minister and approved by the National Assembly. "We've been burned before," the aide said.

Iraqi leaders are eager to get the new cabinet completed so they can devote more attention to the worsening violence.

On Friday, American military officials said that despite the heightened attacks, they have made tremendous progress against the insurgency. In an unusual statement suggesting that terrorists in Iraq were trying to compensate for strategic losses with news media coverage of their attacks, they said at least 20 "trusted lieutenants" or senior aides of the most wanted man in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, had been captured or killed in recent months.

Military officials quoted Mr. Zarqawi's driver, Abu Usama, captured Feb. 20, as describing Mr. Zarqawi's reaction as he believed American forces were closing in. Mr. Zarqawi narrowly escaped capture, the military says, when he leapt from the vehicle Mr. Usama was driving.

"Zarqawi became hysterical," the military statement quotes Mr. Usama as saying. "Zarqawi did not know where he was because he demanded repeatedly, 'Who lives in this area? What sub-tribe is here?' "

The military said: "Zarqawi then quickly grabbed his American-made rifle with one magazine and an unknown amount of U.S. dollars and escaped. Mr. Zarqawi left behind his computer, pistols and more ammunition, which were all seized in the raid. It is believed Zarqawi went back to Haditha and hid with members of local tribes who continue to provide him support and sanctuary."

The Zarqawi aides captured recently include "terror-cell leaders, propaganda chiefs, bomb makers, drivers and other key lieutenants." Degradation of the Zarqawi network helped result in fewer attacks in February and March, the military said.

Iraqi political leaders hope a completed government will bolster the confidence of Iraqi citizens demoralized by the recent spate of attacks. But if the agreement on the defense minister were to fall through, it would deal another setback to efforts by the Shiite and Kurdish leaders who dominate the new administration to form a "unity" government that gives important jobs to members of all Iraq's major religious and ethnic groups, including the Sunni Arabs, who largely boycotted the Jan. 30 elections and are believed to make up most of the insurgency.

The defense post is the most important job allotted to the Sunnis, but Sunni leaders have complained that the Shiite leaders have rejected qualified candidates.

Indeed, by Friday night some Sunni Arab leaders were grumbling about the defense minister selection. One Sunni, Dr. Saleh Mutlak, a member of the National Dialogue Council, identified the defense candidate as Sadoon al-Dulaimi, a member of a powerful tribe in Anbar Province, which includes Falluja and Ramadi.

While he personally did not object to the selection, Dr. Mutlak said he was "not optimistic" about it, saying some Sunni Arab leaders believed Dr. Jaafari was relying too heavily on Sheik Yawar.

"The choosing has mostly been between Ghazi and Jaafari, so it is not the Sunnis' decision anymore," Dr. Mutlak said. "I think tomorrow they will not be happy."

If a final agreement is reached this weekend, it would be a quick turnabout from what had been heated negotiations. The new government, led by Dr. Jaafari, a Shiite, was sworn in Tuesday, but 6 of 35 cabinet positions were still unfilled amid disagreement over which Sunnis would fill some posts.

Shiite aides said other vacant posts had been decided, including the selection of Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum, the son of a prominent Shiite cleric, as oil minister. Dr. Jaafari has not confirmed that selection.

American and some Iraqi officials said they hoped a completed cabinet would allow the new government to turn its attention to tamping down an insurgency that in the weeks after the election seemed to ebb. But since Dr. Jaafari announced the cabinet last week, insurgents have launched dozens of attacks.

On Friday, the blast in Tikrit was caused by a bomber driving an Opel sedan who rammed a bus, killing 10 policemen and wounding 3 policemen and 5 civilians. Later in the day, the Suwaira car bomber killed at least 16 people and wounded 40, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said.

Meanwhile, Arab news channels replayed the grisly find of bodies in northeast Baghdad.

"Usually we find bodies lying in the streets, around two or three a day, but we haven't found such numbers before and buried like that," said Ali Mutashar, a 28-year-old worker, wearing filthy old clothes, as he walked near the grave site. "Nothing in the time we are living would surprise me any more."

Sabrina Tavernise, Abdul Razzaq al-Saiedy and Zaineb Obeid contributed reporting for this article.

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