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BAGHDAD - US President George W. Bush said on Tuesday the hand of al Qaeda lay behind the sectarian violence racking Iraq, and deflected talk of "civil war".
Bush, who made his remarks in Estonia on his way to a NATO summit, has avoided using the term civil war which could increase public pressure on him to pull troops out of Iraq.
In Baghdad, car bombs close to west Baghdad's main Yarmouk hospital killed four people and wounded 40 on Tuesday and in Kirkuk a suicide bomber attacked the governor's convoy. Reports of more bombings, shootings and torture came from across Iraq.
Ferocious sectarian conflict between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslim groups appears to have eclipsed the anti-US insurgency as the main source of turmoil, and some commentators say it is best described by the term civil war.
The White House acknowledged on Monday Iraq was in a "new phase" but denied it amounted to civil war, preferring to portray the conflict as a struggle against al Qaeda.
Asked at a news conference in Estonia what the difference was between the bloodshed and civil war, Bush said recent bombings were part of a pattern of al Qaeda attacks aimed at provoking conflict between religious groups.
"The plan of Mr Zarqawi was to foment sectarian violence," he said, referring to the former leader of al Qaeda in Iraq killed by a US air strike in June, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. "That's what he said he wanted to do.
"We've been in this phase for a while. And the fundamental objective is to work with the Iraqis to create conditions so that the vast majority of people will be able to see that there's a peaceful way forward," Bush said.
"What you're seeing on TV started last February," he said. "It was an attempt by people to foment sectarian violence."
Iraqi President in Iran
He made his comments as Iraqi President Jalal Talabani visited Iran in the hope it can help stem the bloodletting in Iraq. Iran's anti-American President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday Iran would do what it could to help bring Iraq security.
Bush said on Tuesday that the Iraqi government was free to talk to Iran about helping end the violence, but US conditions for direct talks with Tehran remained unchanged -- Tehran must first suspend nuclear fuel enrichment.
Washington is anxious to stop Iran's nuclear programme, which it suspects is intended to produce atomic weapons. Iran denies it.
"As far as the United States goes, Iran knows how to get to the table with us, which is to do that which they said they would do, which is verifiably suspend their enrichment programme," Bush said.
The United States is facing calls to engage Tehran to help end the bloodshed, and Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki are due to meet in Jordan this week. US officials say contacts with Iran and Syria will be on their agenda.
"My questions to him will be, what do we need to do to succeed?" Bush said. "What is your strategy in dealing with the sectarian violence?"
A man wearing an explosive vest blew himself up next to the convoy of Kirkuk governor Abdul-Rahman Mustafa, killing a passerby and wounding 12 people.
"It was the third assassination attempt on my life, but it will not stop me doing my job," Mustafa told Reuters.
Oil-rich Kirkuk, north of Baghdad, has witnessed a spate of bombings in recent months. Disputed by Sunni Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen, its final status is one of Iraq's most sensitive issues.
Two Iraqi militant groups claimed to have downed a US F16 plane in retaliation for what they said was the US army's killing of Iraqis, Al Jazeera television said on Tuesday.
The television said it was quoting a joint statement from the Mujahideen Army and the Mujahideen Shura Council. The Pentagon had no immediate comment on the claim.
While helicopter crashes in Iraq are not uncommon, it is rare for a fixed-wing aircraft to come down.
- REUTERS
