Iraqi president warns of civil war after bombings

A government of national unity encompassing Kurds, Shias and Sunnis is widely seen as the best chance to bring stability to the country, but three months after elections political leaders are deadlocked over who should be prime minister.

Blasts ripped through the east Baghdad stronghold of a major Shia militia on Sunday, killing or wounding 250 people and raising fears of fresh sectarian bloodletting. The US military said on Monday that the death toll had reached 62.

President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, said the bombings had been designed to "inflame sectarian strife and fan the fires of civil war."

"It is the duty of the political blocs to intensify their efforts to form a government and establish a broad front to achieve security and stability," he said in a statement.

Radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said he would not order his militia to strike Sunni al-Qaeda militants after Sunday's bombings in his Sadr City stronghold.

"I could order the Mehdi Army to root out the terrorists and fundamentalists but this would lead us into civil war and we don't want that," the youthful Sadr told a news conference in the Shia holy city of Najaf.

Police discovered the shot and tortured bodies of four Shias in Sadr City. Next to the bodies was a sign bearing a single word: "Traitors."