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Bush blames al Qaeda in Iraq for sectarian strife

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RIGA, Latvia (CNN) -- President Bush on Tuesday called the latest violence in Iraq "part of a pattern" of attacks by al Qaeda in Iraq to divide Shiites and Sunnis and vowed again he won't support the removal of U.S. troops "before the mission is complete."

"There's a lot of sectarian violence taking place, fomented in my opinion because of the attacks by al Qaeda, causing people to seek reprisal," he said.

Bush said slain al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had wanted to stir up trouble between Iraq's Shiite majority and the Sunnis favored by Saddam Hussein. (Watch as bodies pile up at an Iraq morgue with bloodletting at new levels )

The president traced an increase in violence to the February bombing of a revered Shiite mosque in Samarra, north of Baghdad, saying: "We've been in this phase for a while."

Bush spoke at a news conference in Tallinn, Estonia, with Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves less than a week after more than 200 people were killed in Baghdad's Shiite slum of Sadr City. Police called it the single worst attack so far in the war.

Later in Riga, Latvia, Bush dismissed calls to withdraw from Iraq before the nation becomes stabilized.

"We can accept nothing less than victory for our children and our grandchildren," he said. (Full story)

Bush is scheduled to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Jordan on Wednesday and Thursday.

Anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's powerful political bloc on Tuesday reiterated its threat to suspend participation in Iraq's government if the Bush-al-Maliki meeting goes forward.

Such a move could jeopardize the stability of al-Maliki's administration, which has relied on the support of both the United States and fellow Shiites.

White House national security adviser Stephen Hadley said Bush and al-Maliki will discuss "what steps Iraq needs to take and how we can support them."

Hadley dismissed the notion that civil war has begun in Iraq.

"The Iraqis don't talk of it as a civil war. The unity government doesn't talk of it as a civil war," Hadley said. "You have not yet had a situation also where you have two clearly defined and opposing groups vying not only for power but for territory." (Watch how "civil war," as used for Iraq, is a matter of great debate )

What distinguishes the sectarian violence from civil war is that the factions are "less aimed at gaining full control over an area than expressing differences and also trying to destabilize a democracy," Hadley said aboard Air Force One en route to Estonia on Monday.

But he added: "We're clearly in a new phase characterized by an increase in sectarian violence that requires us to adapt to that new phase," according to The Associated Press.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday said that he believes Iraq is near civil war. "Unless something is done drastically and urgently to arrest the deteriorating situation, we could be there. In fact we are almost there," he said. (Full story)

Iran's supreme leader condemns U.S. policies

The Jordan summit follows Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's trip to Tehran for talks with his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on how to stabilize the situation in Iraq.

Khamenei blamed U.S. policies for the violence and said the withdrawal of "foreign forces" would be the first step toward a resolution in Iraq, according to an Iranian news agency report. (Full story)

The United States has refused to negotiate with Iran and Syria about helping to bring stability to Iraq, accusing both Tehran and Damascus of aiding insurgent groups in Iraq.

But a draft report by the Iraq Study Group, which is considering the Bush administration's Iraq strategy, urges an aggressive regional diplomatic initiative that includes direct talks with Iran and Syria, according to The New York Times. (Watch how Iran is vowing to help Iraq )

Bodies found in Baghdad

A U.S. commander said Tuesday that he expects to see "elevated levels of violence" in the aftermath of the carnage last week in Sadr City.

Civilian casualties "spiked dramatically" in Baghdad because of the attacks, U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell told reporters.

He said the U.S.-led coalition has killed or captured more than 7,000 al Qaeda in Iraq "terrorists" since October 2004 as well as more than 30 senior members of the group since July.

In an apparent sign of the sectarian warfare, 36 bodies were found dumped across Baghdad on Tuesday, police said. Such discoveries have become nearly a daily occurrence in the Iraqi capital.

Also Tuesday, two car bombs exploded outside a Baghdad hospital morgue, killing at least four people and wounding 40 others, emergency police said.

Near Ramadi, west of Baghdad, a male and five girls were found dead in a house caught in a firefight between coalition troops and insurgents, the U.S. military said. The house was known as a safe house for insurgents, residents said.

In northern Iraq, Kirkuk provincial Gov. Abdul Rahman Mustafa survived a suicide attack Tuesday on his convoy that wounded 18 people as he headed to work, police said.

Other developments

CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq, Michael Ware and Pam Benson contributed to this report.

Copyright 2006 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

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