Car bomb kills at least seven in Baghdad -police

BAGHDAD, Apr 4 (Reuters) A car bomb exploded in eastern Baghdad today, killing at least seven people and wounding 22, police said.

The bomb exploded near a car dealership.

Sectarian violence has been rising in Iraq since the bombing of a Shi'ite shrine on February 22 touched off reprisals and pushed Iraq closer than ever to civil war.

Yesterday a car bomb killed at least 10 people near a Shi'ite mosque in Baghdad, Interior Ministry sources said. That blast in the Shaab district of the capital also wounded at least 30 people, the sources said.

REUTERS VJ HS1759