Violent Ramadan expected in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Insurgents in Iraq may take advantage of the political vacuum in Baghdad and launch major attacks during the holy month of Ramadan, military leaders said.

Ramadan started Tuesday in parts of the Middle East. U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, the deputy commander of departing U.S. forces in Iraq, said the holy month provided an opportunity for insurgents, The Christian Science Monitor reports.

"Traditionally we've seen an increase in attacks in the early part and just preceding Ramadan," Cone said.

Soaring summer heat in Iraq has frustrated many Iraqi citizens as 120-degree temperatures strain an over-taxed electrical grid. Explosions in Basra during the weekend killed more than 40 people in a city already tense from a power crisis.

Iraq, meanwhile, is without a new government more than five months after voters handed the secular Iraqiya slate a narrow victory over the State of Law party of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. None of the competing parties secured the clear majority needed to form a government alone, however.

"Without a seated government, this would be a good time if the enemy had capacity that it would attempt to do things," said Cone.

Little progress is expected on the new government until the end of Ramadan, the Monitor adds.

U.S. combat forces leave Iraq at the end of August.