Iraq's Maliki blasts foreign support for bombings

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Bombings that killed 112 people were carried out with foreign backing, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Wednesday, before changing the head of Baghdad security in a move aimed at thwarting pre-election violence.

A series of car bombs on Tuesday ripped through Baghdad in Iraq's deadliest attack in six weeks, a brutal reminder of the threat still posed by an insurgency that has killed thousands since the 2003 U.S. invasion. Health Ministry officials said 77 people died, but police sources put the figure higher at 112.

The attacks came hours before the government announced March 7 as the date for the parliamentary election, ending weeks of political bickering that had delayed the vote from mid-January and could have complicated U.S. military withdrawal plans.

"All Iraqis from all sects have faced the most ferocious terrorist campaign supported from abroad," Maliki said in a televised live address, without accusing any specific country.

In August, Maliki accused Syria of sheltering militants behind several bombings, including two strikes against government ministries that killed 95 people on August 19.

The four bombings on Tuesday used C-4 plastic explosives that originated abroad, said Jihad al-Jabiri, head of the Interior Ministry's ordnance department.

"They came from outside of Iraq, from Baathists and al Qaeda, with the help of a neighboring country. That requires money and a large amount of support from Syria, Saudi Arabia or another country. Those states would not be unaware," he said.

Iraq has also accused its neighbors of failing to prevent foreign fighters from crossing its borders, and of not doing enough to clamp down on funding for al Qaeda and remnants of Saddam Hussein's outlawed Baath party. The United States has said Iran trains and arms Shi'ite militants.

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"This crime will prompt us to review security strategies. It will bring changes in positions of officials in order to develop tactics to confront these developing challenges," Maliki said.

Later in the day Maliki swapped the positions of Major General Abboud Qanbar, the head of Baghdad law enforcement, and Major General Ahmed Hashim, who was deputy chief of the Iraqi army, according to a statement from the prime minister's office.

Maliki's coalition is campaigning for the March 7 election on a platform of greater security and economic development. His Dawa party's roots are Shi'ite Islamist, but Maliki has sought to build a cross-sectarian base for next year's vote.

He called for unity among Iraqis after the attacks, and said executing more people convicted of similar crimes would deter future offenders.

"I call upon the Judiciary Council ... to pass death sentences against criminals, and I call upon the presidency council to approve these sentences as a deterrence," he said.

Amnesty International said last week more than 900 Iraqi prisoners faced execution before the end of this year for crimes including murder and kidnapping. Many of them may not have received fair trials, the London-based rights group said.

The Judiciary Council said that figure was exaggerated but declined to give an exact number of inmates on death row.

Separately, four people were killed and 18 wounded in two incidents involving roadside bombs in Baghdad on Wednesday, police said. Three people were killed and eight wounded when a bomb went off on a minibus near Baghdad.

(Additional reporting by Aseel Kami and Waleed Ibrahim, writing by Ayla Jean Yackley, editing by Michael Christie and Mark Trevelyan)