Bombers kill 16, Iraq parlt hears of civil war

BAGHDAD, July 11 (Reuters) Suicide bombers today struck outside Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, killing 16 people, close to where parliament met in heated session to hear at least one lawmaker warn that civil war was close at hand.

Since parliament last met last week, dozens have been killed in the capital in bombings and some of the worst attacks yet seen by sectarian gunmen; militants in a Sunni area ambushed a bus full of Shi'ite mourners, killing 10 of them today.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite leading a US-backed national unity coalition, condemned an ''awful crime'' by terrorists ''trying to incite sectarian strife''.

An al Qaeda-led group posted video on the Internet of two mutilated corpses. It said they were American soldiers kidnapped and killed last month and claimed they died to avenge the alleged rape and murder of a local teenager by US troops.

On a positive note, the main political bloc of the once dominant Sunni minority ended a week-old boycott of parliament, saying it had encouraging news about the fate of a woman member kidnapped in a Shi'ite neighbourhood 10 days ago.

As night fell on Baghdad, however, in a pattern seen for the last few days, there was more violence. A car bomb in the western Alam district killed five and wounded 17, police said, while clashes erupted between militia fighters and residents in the violent Sunni area of Amriya.

In Baquba, north of Baghdad, police said a Shi'ite mosque in the town's Tahrir district had been completely destroyed in an explosion. Heavy fighting was going on in the streets nearby.

Two suicide bombers wearing explosives-laden vests and a roadside bomb killed 15 civilians and an Iraqi policeman outside the main public entrance to Baghdad's fortified Green Zone government and diplomatic compound, the US military said.

The coordinated blasts at 10:50 am (1220 hrs IST) in an area with many popular restaurants came as parliament prepared to sit nearby.

Twisted metal of food stands and stores lay amid debris.

Addressing a heated session on a day in which at least 30 other people were killed around Baghdad and an Iraqi diplomat was kidnapped, Ali al-Adib, from the prime minister's Dawa party said: ''The country is sliding fast towards civil war.'' FUNERAL JOURNEY The ambush on the minibus in the violent southern Doura district of Baghdad came despite Maliki's plea yesterday for Iraqis to ''unite as brothers'' following a spasm of violence since Friday that has killed about 200 people across Iraq.

The victims were returning from a funeral in the holy Shi'ite city of Najaf when gunmen in two cars ambushed them.

A wave of tit-for-tat killings in Baghdad between majority Shi'ites, oppressed under Saddam Hussein but now politically empowered, and the once dominant Sunni Arabs has deepened a centuries-old schism and raised the spectre of civil war.

Maliki reiterated pledges to disband militias, some tied to parties in government, under his national reconciliation plan. ''It is not in Iraq's interest to keep these militias,'' he said.

US commanders condemned the video purporting to be of the bodies of Privates First Class Kristian Menchaca and Thomas Tucker as ''barbaric''. The claim could not be substantiated that they were killed last month in reprisal for a rape and murder in March that was only publicised by the US military 10 days ago.

Since the military announced its investigation, Iraqis have expressed outrage over the case, which follows several other murder probes involving US troops. Maliki has demanded a review of US troops' immunity from Iraqi courts.

A lawyer for one of six Americans charged over the rape and murder of 14-year-old Abeer al-Janabi and killing of her parents and 6-year-old sister sought a court order banning officials, including President George W Bush, from commenting on the case. Emotive language was hurting chances for a fair trial, he said.

REUTERS SY BD2342