Violence Blamed on Zarqawi Allies

Responding to the accusation, Hadi Amiri, secretary general of the Badr group and a member of Iraq's National Assembly, placed the blame for recent killings on elements of the Iraqi government led by former president Saddam Hussein.

"We condemn all of the criminal operations against the Iraqis," Amiri said. "These are terrorist acts committed by the remnants of the former regime and their allies of extremists. They aim to provoke strife among the Iraqis."

The Jafari government says the executions are meant to foment sectarian violence and are not evidence of existing sectarian tensions. Laith Kubba, a spokesman for Jafari, said the accusation by Dhari could lead to more violence.

"The sheik is a man of influence, and one would have thought he would be far more careful with his words," Kubba said.

In Washington, the head of U.S. Central Command said the insurgency appeared to be focused on intimidating Iraqis -- mainly in areas populated by Sunnis -- to dissuade them from becoming active in the new government.

Army Gen. John P. Abizaid said the insurgents' reliance on Iraqis to kill their countrymen mirrors the "Al Capone-style government" that ruled Iraq for three decades under Hussein.

"It's my impression that the majority of the insurgents that are fighting continue to be Iraqis," he said, adding that foreign extremists are playing a role in the violence but that their role should not be overestimated. "People are killing their own people for no good reason that I can see."

Abizaid said that "the first and most important issue in Iraq is the political process remaining viable. If it doesn't remain viable, it will spark more violence. What will make the biggest difference in Iraq is the political process."

In recent days, some Sunni leaders have accused the Jafari government and particularly the Interior Ministry, which oversees the country's police force, of permitting or even conducting attacks on clerics, charges the government has denied.

Interior Ministry officials have themselves been frequent targets of assassinations. That pattern continued Tuesday morning when Brig. Gen. Ibrahim Khammas, head of criminal intelligence at the ministry, was killed in a drive-by shooting as he left his house for work.

Later in the day, in a town southeast of Baghdad, Iraqi police discovered the bullet-riddled bodies of seven Turkmens who worked as security guards for U.S. and Iraqi convoys, according to police Capt. Nadhum Dulaimi. Al Qaeda in Iraq later issued a statement asserting responsibility for the killings.

Staff writer Josh White in Washington contributed to this report.