Four Women Kill Dozens In Suicide Blasts in Iraq

No group asserted responsibility for the attacks, but al-Qaeda in Iraq has increasingly deployed female suicide bombers because they can evade security checks better than men. U.S. military officials say women have carried out more than 20 such assaults this year, mostly in Baghdad and Diyala province.

Tensions have risen in Kirkuk recently over a power-sharing arrangement in a provincial elections measure that allocates to Kurds, Arabs and Turkmens equal numbers of seats in the governing council of Tamim province, of which Kirkuk is the capital. Kurds opposed such a distribution, as well as parliament's decision to approve the measure in a secret ballot.

Parliament passed the legislation last Tuesday, despite a walkout by Kurdish lawmakers. President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, later vetoed it.

The Kurds want the city to become part of the semiautonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, an outcome that Arabs and Turkmens oppose. Kurds have sought a long-delayed referendum to determine the status of Kirkuk.

Burhan Mizher al-Assi, an Arab representative on the city council, accused Kurds of destroying his house and vowed to enlist U.S.-backed Awakening forces -- mostly Sunni Arab tribesmen who have turned against al-Qaeda in Iraq -- "to interfere and protect the Arabs in Kirkuk."

Turkmen officials also demanded that the Iraqi government send troops to protect Arabs and Turkmens from Kurdish security forces.

"The goal behind the clashes and the protests is to bring down the Iraqi government and to not conduct elections in Kirkuk," said Khalaf Migbel Ubaidi, 35, an Arab agricultural engineer.

Kurds said that they were targeted first and that they were determined to make sure the provincial elections legislation was rewritten to protect Kurdish interests in the city.

"We came to Kirkuk in a peaceful demonstration and we were anticipating that we will be targeted," said Sherzad Taqi Hemawandi, a Kurd who protested. "But our message is that we are going to stay in Kirkuk and that we will include it into Kurdistan," as the predominantly Kurdish region of northern Iraq is known.

Brig. Gen. Sarhad Qader of the Kirkuk police said al-Qaeda in Iraq was behind the bombing.

Kurds hold 21 of the 41 seats on Tamim's provincial council. Turkmens have 11 seats, Arabs have eight and a Christian holds the remaining seat. U.S. diplomatic officials in Kirkuk estimate that at least 60 percent of the province's population is Kurdish; Arabs account for nearly 30 percent.

In Baghdad on Monday, Abbas, the student in Karrada, said he was having second thoughts about improvements in security in his city. "Now, women are carrying out more bombings, and that's difficult to control. They can't search the women," Abbas said. "After these three bombs, I feel Baghdad is unsafe, and I expect more will happen tomorrow. The situation has scared me. I was planning to go to visit the shrine. But I can't."

Special correspondents Zaid Sabah, Qais Mizher and Saad al-Izzi in Baghdad and a special correspondent in Kirkuk contributed to this report.