WORLD> Middle East
Suicide bomber kills 55 in packed Iraq restaurant
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-12 07:56


A resident who was wounded in a bomb attack waits for treatment in a hospital in Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad December 11, 2008. A suicide bomber killed 55 people and wounded 120 on Thursday in a crowded restaurant near Iraq's ethnically mixed city of Kirkuk, shattering the calm during a major Muslim holiday, police said. [Agencies] 


The UN mission, which has been trying to defuse tension in Kirkuk, urged community leaders "to demonstrate responsible leadership and to urge restraint by their followers at this difficult time."

In a joint statement, US Ambassador Ryan Crocker and the top US commander Gen. Ray Odierno condemned the bombing and accused al-Qaida of trying to "divide Iraqi communities" and halt the progress toward "a stable, inclusive and tolerant society."

US commanders have long believed that resolving differences among the ethnic communities is the key to defeating the insurgents in the north because al-Qaida and the dozen other Sunni extremist groups there exploit those tensions.

But progress has been difficult because of deep-seated suspicions and conflicting claims on Kirkuk, the center of Iraq's vast northern oil fields which the Kurds have long wanted to bring into their autonomous region.

Kirkuk has been hit by at least 41 suicide attacks since May 2005, according to an Associated Press tally. The deadliest attack occurred July 17, 2007, when a suicide truck bomber struck a Kurdish political office, killing at least 80 and wounding more than 180.

Iraq's constitution provides for a referendum to be held in Kirkuk to determine whether it would be annexed to the Kurdish regional administration. But the vote has been repeatedly postponed because of fears that the balloting would worsen ethnic tension.

At the same time, relations between the Kurds and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki have worsened because of differences over control of oil resources, Kirkuk and power-sharing.

A draft law to regulate the oil industry has been stalled for nearly two years because the Kurds withdrew their support, maintaining it gave too much control to the national government.

The Kurds also want a bigger say in decision-making within the ruling coalition.

Al-Maliki has accused the Kurds of breaking the law by sending Kurdish troops outside the self-ruled region, ostensibly to protect Kurdish communities in central government territory.