Acts of Extreme Violence Continue in Iraq

Violence on Sunday ended up with the killing of 29 people, among which 3 American soldiers. Despite strict measures taken after an explosion, fire continued to cover Baghdad. Some acts of violence were stopped by a ban imposed on driving in Iraq's capital and its suburbs, but, along with nightfall, came the attacks, including mortar shells aimed at Shiite buildings, which killed 16 people and injured 53.

Also, a Shiite area on the capital's east side was attacked; 3 people were killed and 6 more wounded.
More than 60 Shiite families deserted their homes in Sunni areas, in fear for their safety after receiving treats.

The ban on the roads prevented people from going to work, Sunday being a working day for Muslims. The ban will be lifted, according to authorities, at 6 a.m. on Monday, because shops are running out of supplies. This ban is part of the emergency measures imposed on Wednesday, when a Shiite shrine was bombed, thing which ignited attacks on Sunni buildings and officials.

Two American soldiers were also killed in the western part of Baghdad, when their car was struck by a bomb. On Sunday, Moqtada al-Sadr, a representative for the Shiite military cleric, and Sunni clerics prayed together in a civilized television ceremony in order to put an end to the violence which troubles Iraq.

Mr. Hiltermann, leader of an organization which released on Sunday a report on the civil war, stated: "I don't see a solution, frankly. But if there is to be a solution it will have to come from the US expending a lot of political capital to convince them that the only way to keep Iraq united, which is a shared interest, is to form a government of national unity.

The military and the police have been rebuilt in a sectarian fashion, even though that's not the intent, and so the security forces can end up playing a role in sectarian fighting rather than to dampen it, and that's been what has been going on."

Iraqi police stated that they found no trace of American journalist Jill Carroll, previously abducted; the deadline set by her kidnappers expired on Sunday, at midnight. The woman, a worker at the Christian Science Monitor, was abducted in Baghdad on January 7. Last news about her situation was issued on February 10, when a tape was broadcasted on the Kuwaiti television station, in which the kidnappers said she will be killed unless the U.S. do not meet the demands.