New Fears of Civil War in Iraq

American authorities sought to blame al-Qai'da last night for a massive suicide bomb in a Shia-dominated city that killed at least 50 people in a crowded Iraqi police station.

The blast came after the US claimed - in an apparent leak to The New York Times - that it had intercepted a message from Iraq asking al-Qa'ida for help in fomenting a civil war between Sunnis and Shias in Iraq. The Iraqi police said yesterday's explosion in Iskandariya, which left a three-metre-deep crater, was caused by a car bomb packed with explosives and driven by a suicide bomber. The crowd of Iraqis who gathered at the scene blamed it on an American air strike.