Meanwhile...

A groundswell of sectarian fury continued to roil
Iraq on Thursday after Wednesday's bombing of a
major Shiite shrine, leaving at least 138 people
dead in the past two days and political negotiations
over a new government in ruins.

The threat of full-scale civil war loomed over the
country as Sunni politicians lashed out at Shiite
leaders on Thursday, accusing them of igniting
anti-Sunni reprisals, and at the American military,
charging it with standing idly by as the violence
erupted. The most powerful Sunni Arab political
group said it was suspending talks with Shiite and
Kurdish politicians on forming a new
government.