Iraqi lawmakers again put off a divisive debate on federalism that was set for today after a fresh wave of violence killed 50 people and prompted a warning from the United Nations that Iraq was descending into civil war.
In some of his bluntest remarks on Iraq, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told an international conference: "If current patterns of alienation and violence persist much longer, there is a grave danger that the Iraqi state will break down, possibly in the midst of full-scale civil war."
Delegates listen as UN Secretary General Kofi Annan delivers a speech during the 50th regular session of the IAEA General Conference in Vienna
His remarks came on a day which saw a bout of car bombs, shootings and sectarian killings across Iraq ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, when US officials are expecting an increase of violence by al-Qaeda and other Sunni militant groups. Ramadan starts next week.
Today, a car bomb near a factory to fill gas canisters in southern Baghdad killed two people and wounded 24 others.
Shia, Sunni and Kurdish legislators agreed late last night to again put off the debate on federalism some Iraqis fear could unleash more bloodshed and break up the country.
Legislators from the Shia majority wanted parliament to discuss a bill that defines the mechanics of federalism. Some Shia leaders want to create a Shia region in the oil-rich south, modelled on the Kurdish region in the north.
Minority Sunnis, dominant under Saddam and now the core of the rebellion, fear federalism will break up Iraq and cut them off from its oilfields in the north and south. They want constitutional amendments that guarantees revenue-sharing.
After marathon talks, leaders agreed to set up parliamentary commissions to deal with both issues at once.
"We have agreed not to present the bill to parliament today and allow more time for discussion," a senior Shia source said.
US and Iraqi officials are planning to seal off Baghdad with checkpoints and trenches in preparation for an expected increase in attacks ahead of Ramadan.
The US military said today two US soldiers were killed in Baghdad on Sunday and that five others were wounded in a bomb blast in the town of Diwaniya late yesterday.
A US tank was also damaged in Diwaniya, south of Baghdad, where US commanders sent reinforcements three weeks ago after at least 20 Iraqi soldiers were killed in street battles with Shia militias.
The US military handed over command of a second Iraqi army division to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who has said he hopes he will run most of Iraq by the end of 2006.
Washington is gradually handing over security to Iraq's fledgling forces under a plan to eventually pull out its troops.
But withdrawal plans have been complicated by sectarian violence since the February bombing of a Shia shrine.