Bicycle bomb kills 5 in southern Iraq

BAGHDAD — A bomb attached to a bicycle killed five people and wounded dozens in southern Iraq on Sunday, and at least five others were killed in violence across the country, police said.

The bloodshed comes as Iraqi lawmakers intensify negotiations over a new election law that many hope will hasten the end of political gridlock over control of oil-rich Kirkuk — an old dispute between Arabs and Kurds that has threatened Iraq's fragile stability as U.S. troops prepare to leave the country.

The United Nations expressed "heightened concern" over the stalemate on Sunday and urged the lawmakers to focus on Iraq's national interests. Parliamentary elections are scheduled for Jan. 16, although lawmakers have yet to pass key legislation that will govern the crucial nationwide vote.

Violence continued around the country, killing at least 10 people on Sunday.

Maj. Muthana Khalid said a booby trapped bicycle exploded at a popular fruit and vegetable market near Hillah, the capital of Iraq's Babil province, 60 miles south of Baghdad.

Thirty-seven people were wounded in the attack, Khalid said.

In the western city of Ramadi, two people — including a policeman — were killed when twin car bombs exploded minutes apart in the visitors' parking lot of the city's Traffic Police Directorate.

Ramadi is the capital of Anbar province, 70 miles west of Baghdad.

Also Sunday, three people were killed when a bomb that was detonated remotely exploded on a bus as the vehicle approached a police checkpoint in the southern holy city of Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, officials said.

Last week, twin suicide attacks in Baghdad killed 155 people, the worst attacks in Iraq in two years. The bloodshed prompted many to question the ability of the government led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to protect its people as the U.S. withdraws.

An al-Qaida umbrella group in Iraq has claimed responsibility for last week's bombings. Al-Maliki, who has staked his re-election bid on his ability to bring peace to the country, blamed recent attacks on Baathists — the supporters of former dictator Saddam Hussein — and on al-Qaida.

On Sunday, al-Maliki promised swift and harsh punishment for the militants and vowed to ban members of the deposed Baathists regime from running in the parliamentary elections.

"We will punish anyone who will facilitate the path for Baathists to come to the parliament," al-Maliki said. He added: "There will be no stability and no security as long as Baathists exist in Iraq."