Bomb in Baghdad Kills at Least 7 In Crowd of Mostly Shiite Shoppers

BAGHDAD, Dec. 28 -- Twice on the road to the bombing scene Friday, carloads of young Iraqi men sped by in the opposite direction. The jubilant wedding revelers leaned out of their windows gesturing wildly as they drove through the streets.

Just three miles away, blackened concrete blast walls, pools of dirty water and charred pieces of market stalls marked the site of Baghdad's most recent bombing, in which a vehicle rigged with explosives detonated in a crowd of mostly Shiite shoppers. Seven to 14 people were killed, according to various accounts, and at least 29 were wounded.

Such is Baghdad, sometimes deadly, sometimes almost safe, as the year draws to a close. The levels of violence are far below last year's, and people are venturing out more enthusiastically. But bombs still go off regularly here in the capital and elsewhere across the country.

"A year ago, Iraq was racked by horrific violence and on the brink of civil war," Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, wrote in a year-end letter to his soldiers Friday. "Now, levels of violence and civilian and military casualties are significantly reduced and hope has been rekindled in many Iraqi communities. To be sure, the progress is reversible, and there is much more to be done."

Friday's blast occurred in Tayaran Square, east of the Tigris River, near a barricaded bazaar of vegetable carts and used-clothing dealers. The U.S. military said seven people were killed and 29 wounded. Iraqi police officials cited higher tolls: 14 killed and more than 60 wounded.

Camouflaged Interior Ministry commandos took up positions around the square throughout the afternoon, ordering at gunpoint any car that slowed down to keep moving.

Many of the victims were taken to Kindi Hospital in eastern Baghdad, where angry young men roved the parking lot while the wounded wailed inside. Policemen and hospital staff members said the government had ordered them to deny journalists access to the hospital, openly identifying themselves as members of the Mahdi Army, the Shiite militia that dominates the Health Ministry.

"Are you crazy? We are the Mahdi Army, and you know how it works," one policeman said outside the hospital.

In a separate development Friday, Iraq's Oil Ministry threatened to disrupt the flow of oil to South Korea after it entered into a production-sharing contract with the government of the semiautonomous Kurdish area of northern Iraq.

The Kurdistan Regional Government has signed several contracts with foreign oil companies that Iraq's central government has deemed illegal because they were not approved by the Oil Ministry.

While there has been little movement on Iraq's proposed national petroleum law, the Kurdish region has acted on its own to boost oil production in its territory.

"The Oil Ministry will stop dealing with any international company that doesn't follow the instructions of the Oil Ministry," said Assim Jihad, the ministry's spokesman.

Jihad said the Iraqi companies responsible for exports have been ordered to stop working with any firm that is party to the contracts signed in the Kurdish territory.

On Nov. 12, the Kurdish regional government said it had awarded an exploration rights contract in a 183-square-mile area in the region to a consortium led by the state-owned Korea National Oil Corp.

Iraq is the sixth-largest provider of oil to South Korea, which imported 42 million barrels from the country through November, according to the Associated Press.

"These companies should sign contracts with those who are authorized to assign these contracts, such as the Iraqi government or the Oil Ministry," Jihad said.

Special correspondent Dalya Hassan contributed to this report.