BAGHDAD, June 5 (UPI) -- The U.N. special envoy to Iraq called on the country's people to rise above efforts to stoke division following a deadly bombing in Baghdad.
A suicide bomber targeted a Shiite office in a Baghdad neighborhood Monday, killing 18 people and wounding 125 others.
U.N. special envoy to Iraq Martin Kobler said the perpetrators of the crime should be brought to justice.
The attack took place amid an escalated dispute between the Sunni and Shiite endowment offices over control of the Askariya Shrine in Samarra. A 2006 bombing of the mosque pushed the country to the brink of civil war.
The latest attack comes as pressure mounts on Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Critics accuse the two-term prime minister of monopolizing power.
Kobler called on the Iraqi people to stand resilient as the country enters its sixth month without the presence of U.S. military forces in the country.
"I urge Iraqi people from all walks of life and religious backgrounds to rise above past divisions and unite for a peaceful future," he said in a statement.
