Freedom on the March: 100 dead in Iraq in last 24 hours (194 in 5 days)

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050930/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Sunni-led insurgents killed at least nine people with a car bomb in a crowded vegetable market Friday, the Muslim day of worship, in the second blast against Shiite civilians in as many days, police said. The death toll rose to nearly 100 from the previous day's attacks in another Shiite town.

Elsewhere, in the southern city of Basra, an Iraqi police convoy was ambushed late Thursday, killing four policemen and wounding one, said police Capt. Mushtaq Khazim.

The surge of violence before an Oct. 15 referendum on Iraq's constitution has killed at least 194 people, including 13 U.S. service members, in the past five days.

The insurgents have vowed to wreck the referendum, whose passage is crucial to prospects for starting a withdrawal of American troops. Al-Qaida in Iraq, the country's most feared insurgent group, has declared "all-out war" on the Shiite majority that dominates Iraq's government. Moderate Sunni Arab leaders have urged their community to reject the constitution, saying it will fragment Iraq and leave them weak compared to Shiites and Kurds.