Iraqi government warns more violence likely

BAGHDAD — Iraq's government warned Thursday that more violence is likely as Iraqi security forces gear up for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from urban areas by the end of this month.

Several high-profile bombings have eroded public faith in Iraqi security forces as the Americans face a June 30 deadline to pull back to bases outside the cities.

In the latest attack, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle detonated his explosives outside a popular park near the Shiite holy city of Karbala, south of Baghdad, killing two civilians and wounding 14, said Mohammed al-Moussawi, head of the Karbala provincial council.

The blast came a day after a car bomb exploded near the mainly Shiite city of Nasiriyah, killing 35 people.

Nouri al-Maliki called the blast a "political message" and said it was part of a Sunni insurgent campaign to reignite sectarian violence.

"These acts will increase before the next parliamentary elections (on Jan. 30)," he said during an address to Iraqi commanders. "They will also try during the withdrawal of foreign troops from cities to say that Iraqi security services are incapable and a failure."

The warning came as the Interior Ministry unveiled plans for securing the country after the withdrawal. The June 30 deadline has been set as part of a U.S.-Iraqi security pact that also calls for a withdrawal of American forces from the entire country by the end of 2011.

Iraqi police will assume the bulk of responsibility for protecting population centers, including 70 percent of Baghdad, but the Iraqi army will continue to assist them in volatile areas, according to the ministry.

U.S. commanders have expressed increasing confidence in the Iraqi army but maintain reservations over the performance of local police force.

But Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani said 500,000 Iraqi police are "ready and eager to assume full control over much of Iraq's security."

The Interior Ministry, which oversees Iraqi police forces, and the Defense Ministry, which oversees the army, will be jointly responsible for the security in seven provinces that remain problematic, according to a statement.

Those include the three provinces that contain Iraq's main cities of Baghdad, Basra and Mosul as well as the mainly Sunni provinces of Anbar, Diyala and Salahuddin in the north and the mainly Shiite province of Karbala in the south.