A SUICIDE CAR BOMBER BLEW HIMSELF UP IN A CROWDED MARKET IN OIL-RICH SOUTHERN BASRA ON SATURDAY KILLING 28 PEOPLE AND WOUNDING 62, THE LATEST VICTIMS OF IRAQ'S CEASELESS VIOLENCE. A RUSSIAN DIPLOMAT WAS ALSO KILLED AND FOUR DIPLOMATIC EMPLOYEES WERE KIDNAPPED IN THE IRAQI CAPITAL, AP REPORTED. A TOTAL OF AT LEAST 42 PEOPLE DIED AND DOZENS WERE WOUNDED AROUND IRAQ. A TOTAL OF 12 BODIES, EIGHT OF THEM HEADLESS, WERE ALSO DISCOVERED. IN BASRA, THE COUNTRY'S SECOND BIGGEST CITY, POLICE CAPT. MUSHTAQ KADHIM SAID THE SUICIDE ATTACKER BLEW HIMSELF IN THE LATE AFTERNOON WHEN MANY PEOPLE WERE SHOPPING. THE BLAST LEFT POOLS OF BLOOD AROUND THE SQUARE DRENCHED IN BLOOD AND SEVERAL VEHICLES ON FIRE. IT WASN'T KNOWN WHO STAGED THE ATTACK, BUT BASRA HAS SEEN GROWING VIOLENCE AND UNREST RECENTLY, LEADING PRIME MINISTER NOURI AL-MALIKI LAST WEEK TO DECLARE A MONTHLONG STATE OF EMERGENCY IN THE MAINLY SHIITE CITY.
