Baghdad, Iraq ? A bomb planted near a tea stand killed eight men waiting for day labor in a largely Shiite area of Baghdad on Wednesday. A Shiite politician tapped as a possible prime minister predicted a new government would be in place by mid-March.

The morning attack on the impoverished laborers in the capital’s New Baghdad area appeared aimed at further inflaming sectarian tensions in this war-ravaged country, where Shiites trade accusations with Sunni Arabs of reprisal killings and kidnappings.

Police said at least eight men were killed and more than 50 wounded in the bombing. Eyewitnesses said a man put down a bag of explosives that detonated near a tea cart.

Iraq’s most powerful politicians met to thrash out the formation of the next government. The U.S. wants the dominant Shiites and Kurds to welcome Sunni Arabs into the government in hopes this would take the steam out of the insurgency, which draws most of its support from the Sunni community.

A wounded man is brought to a hospital after an early morning bomb attack in Baghdad, Iraq. A bomb exploded alongside a group of Iraqi men waiting for work on Wednesday, killing at least eight and wounding more than 50, police officials said.

Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi, the biggest Shiite party’s candidate for prime minister, said he expected the government to begin operating in mid-March, following final certification of results from the Dec. 15 parliamentary election and the seating of the legislature.

To do so, the Shiites, who won 128 of the 275 parliament seats, want to build a coalition with the major Kurdish alliance, a deal that seems set with President Jalal Talabani saying his Kurdish ticket nominated him to retain the post.

The Shiite bloc is expected to support Talabani’s reappointment in return for control over major Cabinet posts. Shiite leaders, who were long suppressed under Saddam Hussein, want the interior and defense ministries, which would give them control of the police and military.

But Sunni Arabs, who accuse Shiite-led police forces and militias of killing Sunni clerics and others citizens, oppose Shiites taking control of both ministries.