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Car bomb slays 13 in Shiite holy city

A car bomb exploded yesterday in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, killing at least 13 people and threatening to sharpen sectarian tensions. Shiite politicians blocked a bid to have parliament try to break the deadlock on forming a new government.

Elsewhere, the US military announced the arrest of a top insurgent leader believed to have been behind last year's kidnapping of Italian journalist Guiliana Sgrena.

About 30 people were wounded in the Najaf car bombing, which occurred about 300m from the Imam Ali shrine, police chief Major General Abbas Miadal said. The shrine is among the world's most sacred sites for Shiite Muslims and contains the tomb of the Prophet Mohammed's son-in-law, Imam Ali.

Munther al-Ethari, director of the city's health services, earlier said 10 people were killed.

Such attacks are rare in Najaf, which is tightly controlled by police and Shiite security guards. Even though the casualty figure was modest by Iraqi standards, such attacks within Najaf are seen by Shiites as a grave provocation because of the city's stature as one of the world's most sacred in Shiite Islam.

The bombing on Feb. 22 that destroyed the golden dome of a Shiite shrine in Samarra triggered a wave of reprisal attacks against Sunni mosques and clerics, plunging the country to the brink of civil war.

Following yesterday's blast, Iraqi police and army sealed off the center of Najaf and ordered people to leave the area for fear other bombs may be hidden there. The bomb exploded on Tosi street which leads to the city's massive cemetery. The route is often used for funeral processions of Shiites from throughout the country who come to Najaf to bury their dead.
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