Violence and Political Doubts Persist in Iraq

Insurgents carried out a wave of car bombings and other attacks in at least four Iraqi cities and towns Monday, killing 32 people and injuring dozens more.

The violence came as Iraqi politicians admitted that they were still days, if not weeks, away from a deal to form a government.

Interim Vice President Rosh Shawais, an ethnic Kurd, said talks were continuing between the two dominant blocs in the transitional national assembly: the main Shiite Muslim coalition of candidates, the United Iraqi Alliance, and a faction representing ethnic Kurds.

The Kurds, who want assurances that they will be able to protect their interests as the minority partner in a new administration, reportedly are proposing an arrangement under which the government would automatically fall if they pull out.

Such an agreement would give them virtual veto power over policy.

“We need some guarantees,” Shawais said.

Ahmed Chalabi, a United Iraqi Alliance member who held a meeting of its leaders at his home Monday, said there was no agreement on who would fill the top posts in a new administration. But he added that there was an urgent need to move forward to form the government.

“The process is going too slowly. People need results,” Chalabi said.

The insurgent attacks Monday were aimed at Iraqi police and soldiers in what has been a pattern of targeting members of the security forces, whom militants view as collaborators with the United States.

Al Qaeda in Iraq, the group headed by Jordanian militant Abu Musab Zarqawi, apparently claimed responsibility for the attacks in Baqubah and Balad in a statement posted on the Internet. Both cities have long been the focus of insurgent activity.

In Baqubah, about 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, 14 people were killed in a series of assaults, Associated Press reported. A suicide car bomber outside a police station killed eight of them -- two policemen, three soldiers and three civilians -- and injured 17. Six people were killed by roadside bombs and small-arms attacks on checkpoints.

Another car bomb killed 12 people in Balad, about 35 miles northwest of Baqubah.

In Baghdad, gunmen killed two policemen and wounded a third in a drive-by shooting in the eastern slum of Sadr City, a hospital director told Associated Press. Two civilians and a former Iraqi army officer were killed in other attacks.

A mortar attack in the western town of Qaim killed one man, officials said.

The violence is taking place against a backdrop of uncertainty about the shape of the new government, who its leaders will be and how it will change key ministries such as interior and defense, which are responsible for national security.

The United Iraqi Alliance and the Kurdish slate have been trying to agree on a deal that would allow them to form the government together.

The Shiite-led alliance won 140 seats in the 275-member transitional national assembly and the Kurds 75.

Together they control more than the two-thirds majority needed to elect the presidency council, which will consist of a president and two vice presidents. The council must then unanimously select a prime minister, who in turn will choose Cabinet ministers and form a government.

The assembly must approve those decisions with a simple majority.

Shawais said he would like to see a deal struck by March 16, when the assembly is expected to meet for the first time. If matters are not settled by then, the meeting will be largely ceremonial, he said.

There is no other combination of parties that could so readily command the numbers needed to form a government.

In addition to their concerns about retaining leverage, the Kurds want to be sure they have several key government slots. They also hope to gradually gain control over the oil-rich region of Kirkuk in northern Iraq.