Several explosions rock Baghdad, nearby cities

updated 9:52 a.m. ET March 6, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A string of explosions in Baghdad and north of the capital killed at least 14 Iraqis and wounded 52, officials said Monday.

A U.S. soldier was reported killed in insurgency-plagued western Anbar province, pushing the American military death toll to 2,300 since the beginning of the war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

Meanwhile, Iraq’s president said he would convene the new parliament for the first time on March 12, beginning a 60-day countdown during which lawmakers must elect a new head of state and sign off on a prime minister and Cabinet.

Leadership vacuum
The violence underscored a dangerous leadership vacuum as Sunni Arab and Kurdish politicians increased pressure on Shiite Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to abandon his bid for a new term, and leaders of Iraq’s Shiite majority struggled to overcome internal divisions.

The constitution requires parliament to meet no later than four weeks after the vote was certified, which occurred Feb. 12, nearly two months after the election.

“We will call today for holding the meeting on the 12th of this month because it is the last day that the constitution allows us to hold the meeting of the new parliament,” President Jalal Talabani told reporters.

But a leading member of al-Jaafari’s Dawa Party, Ali al-Adib, said parliament’s main Shiite bloc would request the session be postponed until there was agreement on who should occupy the top government positions.

NBC VIDEO Analyzing Iraq March 6: "Today" anchor Katie Couric talks with retired Gen. Wayne Downing about a possible timetable for Iraq withdrawal. Today show

Anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr predicted a “quick solution” to snarled attempts to form a government.

Emerging from a meeting in the Shiite holy city of Najaf with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and secular Shiite parliamentarian Ahmed Chalabi, al-Sadr said: “All obstacles to forming a national unity government soon will be resolved.”

Chalabi, the one-time Pentagon favorite as Iraq’s post-Saddam Hussein leader, said al-Jaafari deserved the opportunity to form a government.

“Dr. al-Jaafari should be given a chance. ... It is to the benefit of all parties to keep the (Shiite) Alliance strong and unified,” Chalabi said.

But Talabani, a Kurd, said al-Jaafari was too divisive a figure.

“We want a prime minister who can gather all the political blocs around him, so that the government would be one of national unity,” he told a news briefing in Baghdad.

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