State of Emergency Declared in Basra, Iraq

U.S. soldiers attend the scene after a parked car packed with explosives hit a police patrol in the northern city of Mosul in Iraq, killing at least five policemen and wounding 14 Wednesday, May 31, 2006. (AP Photo/Mohammed Ibrahim) (Mohammed Ibrahim - AP)

"There are future plans to improve Basra," al-Hashimi said. "But to prepare suitable circumstances, security must be restored and that is why we are here."

Iran's hand also is rumored to be behind Shiite militias in Basra, although little evidence of a direct link has been made public.

U.S. officials have long accused the Iranians _ though not necessarily the Tehran government _ of smuggling weapons to Shiite militias in Basra.

"Basra is no exception from what is taking place in Baghdad, Anbar, Nineveh and Diyala," al-Hashimi said, referring to other volatile provinces.

"There are malignant campaigns and malignant intentions and there are malignant agendas to deepen divisions among Iraqis," he said. "They intend to divide the country."

In the months after the 2003 invasion, British troops enjoyed relative peace in southern Iraq compared with the restive Sunni regions further north.

But violence in the region has escalated. Nearly 140 people, mostly Sunnis but also Shiites and policemen, were killed in Basra this month alone, police Capt. Mushtaq Kadhim said.

On Thursday, a bomb struck construction workers waiting for day work in central Baghdad, killing at least two and wounding 18, police said.

In other violence Wednesday, according to police:

_ A mortar attack killed nine people and wounded 20 in Baghdad's Dora district.

_ A car bomb targeting a police patrol in Mosul killed at least five policemen and wounded 14.

_ Gunmen ambushed a minibus in Baqouba, northeast of Baghdad, killing at least five people and wounding three.

_ Jamal Kadhim Hassoun al-Zamili, former governor of Diwaniyah south of Baghdad, was killed in a drive-by shooting, while a bomb hidden in an air conditioner killed the mayor of Muqdadiyah, north of Baghdad.

_ A 24-year-old sportscaster for al-Iraqiya TV, Ali Jaafar, was gunned down near his home in Baghdad. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the slaying, saying insurgents have frequently targeted the station because of its ties to the U.S.-backed government.

_ Gunmen killed a Shiite muazzin as he was leaving his house to go to the Imam Ali Mosque in Baghdad.

_ Police in the northern city of Mosul said gunmen killed two civilians and wounded another.

_ At least 19 bodies were found in Baghdad, many blindfolded and handcuffed, apparent victims of sectarian killings.

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Associated Press writers Bushra Juhi and Kim Gamel contributed to this report from Baghdad.