Special report:Tension escalates in Iraq ¡¡

    BAGHDAD, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The death toll rose to 10 people killed and 43 others wounded when a suicide car bomb struck a busy area in Sadr City neighborhood on Saturday, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua.

    "The death toll rose to 10 and up to 43 others wounded in the attack that targeted an Iraqi army checkpoint in Mudaffar Squarein Sadr City neighborhood," the source said on condition of anonymity.

    Earlier, the source put the toll at five killed and 10 others wounded when a suicide car bomber blew a car bomb in the Shiite bastion in eastern Baghdad.

    The attack came shortly after three mortar rounds landed near the ministry of foreign affairs just outside the Green Zone where representatives from 16 countries gathered to find solutions for violence that swept the war-torn country since the U.S-led invasion in 2003.

    Separately, the police reported that a Shiite pilgrim was killed and five others wounded when Katyusha rockets hit the al-Muheet Street in Baghdad's northern neighborhood of Kadhimiya. Three more Shiite pilgrims were wounded when gunmen opened fire on them while they were traveling on the Talbiyah bridge in eastern of the capital.

    The sectarian attacks occurred when hundreds of Shiite pilgrims celebrated the commemoration of Arba'een (40 days after the day of Ashura) which marks the death of Imam al-Hussein bin Ali, the grandson of Prophet Mohammed, who was killed in the seventh century.

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    Three Explosions rock area near Baghdad conference

An Iraqi security officer stands guard near a worker at a power station in Baghdad March 9, 2007. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    BAGHDAD, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Three explosions on Saturday rocked area near the building where delegates from neighboring and world powers were meeting in Baghdad to discuss sectarian violence and stability in Iraq, police said.

    "Three mortar rounds landed just outside the heavy fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad without knowing whether there was any casualty," an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.