www.cbc.ca/world/story/2006/11/03/iraq.html
Police in Baghdad discovered 56 bodies bearing signs of torture scattered around the Iraqi capital in the past 24 hours, the latest wave of suspected sectarian slayings.
The bodies were of men between 20 and 45 years old, police said Friday.
All wore civilian clothes and had been bound at the wrists and ankles, police Lt. Mohammed Khayon told the Associated Press.
Torture is common among sectarian death squads who seize victims from private homes or from cars and buses travelling the capital's dangerous streets. Criminal gangs seeking ransoms have also been known to torture and execute their victims in a similar fashion.
Police had no solid information on the victims' identities or their killers. Such execution-style killings often remain unsolved amid spiralling violence in the country, in which more than 1,300 Iraqis have been killed since Oct. 1.
Shia militiamen have been blamed for many of Baghdad's recent sectarian slayings, which exploded in number following the bombing of an important Shia shrine in the Iraqi city of Samarra in February.
Bloodshed feared after Saddam verdict
The latest killings come amid heightened fear of more bloodshed after the expected announcement on Sunday of a verdict in the first trial of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Abdul-Qader al-Obeidi, Iraq's defence minister, cancelled leave for all soldiers in anticipation of the verdict.
Al-Obeidi was heard issuing the order in video of a meeting between Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and senior military and security officials, in which al-Maliki upbraided them for failing to stop the capital's unbridled violence.
"All vacations will be cancelled and all those who are on vacation must return," al-Obeidi said, adding that reserve soldiers would be called up within 12 hours.
U.S. death toll rises
Also on Friday, the U.S. military announced the deaths of seven Americans, including three soldiers who died Thursday when the vehicle they were riding in was struck by a roadside bomb in eastern Baghdad.
Four marines died Thursday from injuries sustained in action in the western province of Anbar, while a Baghdad-based soldier died in a non-combat related incident north of Baghdad, the military said.
October was the fourth-deadliest month for U.S. forces since the war began, with the deaths of 105 service members reported.
Biggest U.S. firm pulls out
One of the biggest U.S. companies involved in reconstruction projects in Iraq said it is leaving the country because the security situation has made it too difficult to work there.
Bechtel Corp. said it has finished its last contract after operating in Iraq for three years, in which 52 of its employees have been killed and 49 wounded.
Meanwhile, U.S. National Intelligence Director John Negroponte met Friday with the Iraqi prime minister amid strained relations between the United States and the Iraqi government.
Al-Maliki issued a series of bitter complaints in recent days, at one point saying he was not "America's man in Iraq."
In a bold move against the wishes of U.S. officials earlier this week, al-Maliki also ordered the removal of security blockades from Sadr City, Baghdad's Shia stronghold.
The prime minister was said to have made the move to diffuse tensions and avoid a battle with the Mahdi army, a Shia militia loyal to fiery anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
The roadblocks had been put in place as U.S. and Iraqi forces searched for a kidnapped U.S. soldier in the area.
U.S. voter support for the war is at a low point as the Nov. 7 midterm elections approach, with a record number of Americans questioning the Bush administration's handling of the deteriorating security situation in the country.
56 Bodies Found In Wave Of Sectarians Killings In Baghdad
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