40 bodies found in Iraq in past 24 hours

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Police found at least 40 bodies — shot and discarded — in Baghdad in the previous 24 hours, the Interior Ministry said Tuesday, underscoring fears that deadly bombings in the capital Sunday night would ignite sectarian reprisal attacks. The bodies were found in both Shiite and Sunni Muslim areas, many of them among Baghdad's most dangerous neighborhoods, said Maj. Falah al-Mohammedawi of the Interior Ministry. Scorched pavement, destroyed shops, burned out cars and four men shot in the head then hanged from electricity pylons — victims of revenge killings — awaited Shiite residents emerging from their homes Monday in Baghdad's Sadr City slum. Two car bombers and four mortar rounds shattered shops and market stalls at nightfall Sunday when residents were buying groceries for their evening meal. At least 58 people were killed and more than 200 wounded. Despite the apparent revenge killings, Monday saw no major attacks. A key to that relative peace was anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's refusal to be provoked. With thousands of his Mahdi Army militiamen ready to fight, the Shiite leader called for calm and national unity. It was the second time in less than three weeks that Iraqis stood at the precipice of civil war but pulled back. Britain, the United States' largest military partner in Iraq, showed its confidence Monday by announcing a 10 percent — about 800-troop — reduction by May. "This is a significant reduction which is based largely on the ability of the Iraqis themselves to participate and defend themselves against terrorism, but there is a long, long way to go," British Defense Secretary John Reid said in London. Washington hopes to begin withdrawing some of its troops by this summer if a new Iraqi government is in place and judged sufficiently in control. But sectarian violence and political bickering has stalled the process. In Washington, President Bush said insurgents were trying to ignite a civil war by escalating violence. "I wish I could tell you that the violence is waning and that the road ahead will be smooth," Bush said in a speech at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies at George Washington University. "It will not. There will be more tough fighting and more days of struggle, and we will see more images of chaos and carnage in the days and months to come." -AP