NAJAF, Aug 10: A suicide bomber killed 35 people near the shrine of Hazrat Ali in what Iraqi leaders branded an attempt to sow sectarian hatred and destroy a fragile peace process.

The attacker detonated an explosives-packed vest at a police checkpoint in the historic city of Najaf, a short distance from the mausoleum.

“This terrorist tried to enter the shrine of Imam Ali, but he wasn’t able to because of security procedures, and was forced to blow himself up outside,” said a statement from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s office.

“This attack resulted in 35 persons killed and 122 wounded, including some Iranian pilgrims,” the statement said.

Elsewhere in Iraq 20 people were killed.

In Baghdad, seven police commandos including a senior officer were killed in a guerilla ambush while a bomb in a popular restaurant killed six civilians.

As night fell, five Iraqis were killed and 12 wounded when a mortar round slammed into a cafe where they were playing dominos, northeast of Baghdad, a defence ministry official said.

Police said two policemen were killed and seven wounded when their checkpoint was attacked by rebels with mortars rounds, gunfire and bombs, on the outskirts of Baquba, north of Baghdad.

A Najaf security official said Iraqi police had sacrificed their lives to prevent the suicide bomber reaching the shrine.

“When he arrived at the last checkpoint, the police were suspicious of him and grabbed him. Once he was in their hands, he blew himself up, killing the five police guards at the checkpoint,” the official said.

“This crime is yet more evidence that those who committed it are renegades who have abandoned the will of people. They are trying to incite sedition and sectarian strife,” said President Jalal Talabani, a Sunni Kurd.

A little known Sunni group claimed responsibility for the attack and warned Shias not to support ‘the crusaders’, meaning US forces, in a statement on an Internet site that could not be authenticated.

In Iran, foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said the Najaf attack was aimed at ‘weakening the Iraqi government and dividing Sunni and Shia Brothers’ and called on foreign forces to leave Iraq.

US generals warned last week that sectarian bloodshed could push Iraq into civil war, despite attempts by the national unity government to restore order and promote reconciliation.—AFP