Islamic State of Iraq, an Al Qaeda-linked group claimes resposibility for a 1-ton bomb that kills 130 in Baghdad market

BAGHDAD -- The deadliest single bombing in Iraq since the 2003 invasion killed at least 130 people and wounded at least 300 in a crowded Baghdad street market Saturday, the latest in an escalating campaign of terror targeting shoppers that has claimed hundreds of lives in recent weeks.A fuel truck packed with an estimated ton of explosives detonated in the narrow streets of the Sadriyah open-air market in central Baghdad just before dusk, when the market was crammed with people stocking up on supplies before nightfall. Two buildings were obliterated, 10 others collapsed, dozens of stalls were incinerated, and many victims died instantly in the huge explosion, which reverberated across the city.
The bombing came hours after the most senior Shiite cleric in Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, issued a statement appealing to Iraqis not to fall prey to attempts to divide them along sectarian lines."Unite, reject division, stay away from sectarianism and avoid provoking religious disputes. Those disputes are several centuries old, and there's no solution to be found which satisfies everybody," he said. "We must focus on the issues we all share in order to strengthen Islamic unity and spread love and brotherhood among the sons of this nation."Past such appeals by the revered ayatollah have failed to halt the intensifying attacks against Sunnis and Sunni neighborhoods by Shiite death squads and militias, often acting in revenge for bombings against Shiite neighborhoods. read the rest of this article here. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0702040449feb04,1,1069201.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed