Shiites warn against revenge after Baghdad bloodbath

BAGHDAD -- Muslim preachers warned worshipers Friday against carrying out reprisals that could push Iraq into civil war, after bombs and mortar shells killed 67 civilians in Shiite areas of Baghdad.

More than 400 Iraqis were killed this week as a surge of violence raged around Iraq, including scores slaughtered in insurgent bombings in Shiite markets and neighborhoods of the strife-torn capital.

The death toll continued to mount as rescuers pulled more corpses from the rubble left by Thursday's synchronized barrage of bomb and rocket attacks on Shiite and Christian districts, which killed 67 civilians.

More than 300 people were wounded in the blasts, which tore through a street market killing women and children and demolished several homes, including some in Sadr City, a bastion of Baghdad's powerful Shiite militias.

The four-hour vehicle curfew to protect Friday's worshipers came and went without reports of violence, but preaching at the mosques was marked by anger.

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