Iraq: explosions at markets kill at least 12 people

A member of the Iraqi Accordance Front, the largest Sunni bloc in the 275-member legislature, suggested that Tayseer al-Mashhadani was kidnapped by Shiite militias and said the legislative boycott would continue until she is released.

Photo: Iraq: explosions at markets kill at least 12 people

Iraq: explosions at markets kill at least 12 people

Noureddine al-Hyali said the political group had information that al-Mashhadani was being held somewhere near eastern Baghdad's Ur neighborhood _ a predominantly Shiite area that is controlled by radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi army militia.

Bassem Sherif, a member of the main Shiite bloc, called on the Sunnis to come forward with any information about the kidnapping so that parliament could pressure the government to free her.

The Sunni Arab bloc announced Sunday that it was suspending participation in the legislature until al-Mashhadani was freed, the AP reports.

The lawmaker and seven of her bodyguards were seized Saturday after her convoy was stopped by gunmen at a checkpoint in a Shiite area of eastern Baghdad, just a few kilometers (miles) from where a huge car bomb struck an outdoor market, killing at least 66 people and wounding about 100, the AP reports.

Bombs also went off for a second consecutive day at a popular market in Mahmoudiya, 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of Baghdad, according to the AP.