Bombings threaten Iraqi government

BAGHDAD, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- Recent bombings in Baghdad that killed 153 people and wounded at least 500 are eroding support for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, authorities said.

Many of the bodies from last Sunday's back-to-back bombings of government buildings were unrecognizable, rendering officials unable to say how many were men, women and children.

Maliki's government goes to the polls in January with each new terrorist attack eroding support his party has gained during the last two years, Baghdad residents and officials told The Sunday Times of London.

"They want us to vote for Maliki in the coming elections," said Mohammed haj Abdullah, whose daughter and grandson were killed in last Sunday's bombings and whose son-in-law was killed in an earlier bombing. "How can we and why should we? He cannot even protect his ministries. How in Allah's name can he protect us?"

More than 60 members of the Iraqi security force were arrested in the wake of last Sunday's bombings and Maliki and his ministers are expected to face questions in Parliament, The Times reported.