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36 Men Found Slain In Iraq; 8 Of President's Bodyguards Killed

POSTED: 7:57 am CDT August 25, 2005

UPDATED: 2:40 pm CDT August 25, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The bodies of 36 men were discovered Thursday southeast of Baghdad on a road leading to Iran, police said. The bodies were left on a road leading to Badrah, a town near the Iranian border, police Lt. Abbas al-Shammari said. An official said all but one of the men were wearing traditional Kurdish trousers. All had been shot in the head. The area southeast of Baghdad has witnessed killings in the past between Shiites and Sunnis. It was not clear if Thursday's deaths were the result of sectarian motives. To the north, eight of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's bodyguards have been killed in an attack south of Kirkuk on a convoy of cars owned by Talabani. Police said gunmen attacked a convoy of cars owned by the president, but Talabani wasn't in any of the vehicles. Investigators said 15 bodyguards were wounded. The cars were returning to Baghdad from Kurdistan.Also Thursday, a radical Shiite cleric is calling for Muslim unity after rivals killed four of his supporters. Muqtada al-Sadr said calm is needed to finish the constitution. Iraq's leaders are calling for an end to the bloodshed. Rival Shiite groups are clashing for a second day even as negotiators struggle to win Sunni support for a new constitution.Meanwhile, it looks like another deadline will pass without Iraq's National Assembly voting on a new constitution. A spokesman for parliament said lawmakers would not meet Thursday to decide on the draft. Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds disagree on issues, including how to share power without splitting the country.