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01-05-08, 13:19
Iraqi deputies have denounced the government, using a quotation from the Koran to describe Prime Minister Nouri Maliki as "depraved".
The criticism came from the bloc of MPs who support the Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr - which once backed Mr Maliki.
Iraqi troops and US-led foreign forces have been engaged in bloody battles with Mehdi Army fighters loyal to Moqtada Sadr over recent weeks.
Nine people died on Thursday in a Baghdad bomb blast aimed at US troops.
The death toll also rose in the sprawling Baghdad district of Sadr City.
In the latest violence, US forces said they had killed at least 16 militants, while heath officials said eight people had been killed overnight.
Over past weeks, more than 400 have been killed and 2,500 injured in Sadr City.
Pictures of dead
Three Sadrist deputies called a news conference in the Green Zone government and diplomatic compound in Baghdad on Thursday, at which they denounced Mr Maliki and his government.
They held up pictures of dead Iraqi civilians they said were killed by government forces, backed by US troops, in Sadr City.
The government's attempts to disarm the Shia militants were causing misery for millions of innocent people, they said, according to the BBC's Clive Myrie in Baghdad.
This Sadrist bloc helped Mr Maliki become prime minister in 2006 - but on Thursday they used a quotation from the Koran to suggest he was "depraved".
The MPs say Sadr City is under siege by government forces, and being starved of fuel - something Mr Maliki denies.
Meanwhile, both the US and Iraqi military spokespersons have accused Mehdi Army fighters of using civilians as human shields - though Mehdi Army sources counter that they are fighting in the interests of the Iraqi population, which they say is suffering at the hands of a US-led occupation.
Bloodshed continues
US figures suggest that 49 US soldiers died in Iraq in April, the highest monthly toll since September last year.
Iraqi figures say at least 966 civilians, not including police, were also killed last month.
At least nine civilians were killed and 23 wounded in a bomb attack in central Baghdad on Thursday.
Three American soldiers were reportedly injured in the blast, which happened when a parked car packed with explosives was detonated as an American patrol passed, a police source told the BBC.
US soldiers said they killed at least 16 militants in clashes in Sadr City from Wednesday afternoon into Thursday. In the bloodiest single incident, it said it killed six militants preparing to fire off a rocket.
Meanwhile, local medical officials said they had received at least eight dead, including women and children.
The criticism came from the bloc of MPs who support the Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr - which once backed Mr Maliki.
Iraqi troops and US-led foreign forces have been engaged in bloody battles with Mehdi Army fighters loyal to Moqtada Sadr over recent weeks.
Nine people died on Thursday in a Baghdad bomb blast aimed at US troops.
The death toll also rose in the sprawling Baghdad district of Sadr City.
In the latest violence, US forces said they had killed at least 16 militants, while heath officials said eight people had been killed overnight.
Over past weeks, more than 400 have been killed and 2,500 injured in Sadr City.
Pictures of dead
Three Sadrist deputies called a news conference in the Green Zone government and diplomatic compound in Baghdad on Thursday, at which they denounced Mr Maliki and his government.
They held up pictures of dead Iraqi civilians they said were killed by government forces, backed by US troops, in Sadr City.
The government's attempts to disarm the Shia militants were causing misery for millions of innocent people, they said, according to the BBC's Clive Myrie in Baghdad.
This Sadrist bloc helped Mr Maliki become prime minister in 2006 - but on Thursday they used a quotation from the Koran to suggest he was "depraved".
The MPs say Sadr City is under siege by government forces, and being starved of fuel - something Mr Maliki denies.
Meanwhile, both the US and Iraqi military spokespersons have accused Mehdi Army fighters of using civilians as human shields - though Mehdi Army sources counter that they are fighting in the interests of the Iraqi population, which they say is suffering at the hands of a US-led occupation.
Bloodshed continues
US figures suggest that 49 US soldiers died in Iraq in April, the highest monthly toll since September last year.
Iraqi figures say at least 966 civilians, not including police, were also killed last month.
At least nine civilians were killed and 23 wounded in a bomb attack in central Baghdad on Thursday.
Three American soldiers were reportedly injured in the blast, which happened when a parked car packed with explosives was detonated as an American patrol passed, a police source told the BBC.
US soldiers said they killed at least 16 militants in clashes in Sadr City from Wednesday afternoon into Thursday. In the bloodiest single incident, it said it killed six militants preparing to fire off a rocket.
Meanwhile, local medical officials said they had received at least eight dead, including women and children.