Baghdad, Iraq ? Sunni politicians warned of civil war Saturday after the bullet-riddled bodies of 14 Sunni Arab men were found in Baghdad – apparently the latest victims of sectarian death squads.

One person was killed and 12 were injured when a mortar shell exploded near a Shiite mosque north of the capital.

Sunni leaders claimed the 14 men were seized last week by Shiite-led security forces. There was no confirmation from the Shiite-led Interior Ministry that government troops were responsible.

A top ministry official, Maj. Gen. Hussein Ali Kamal, said the bodies were shot multiple times and dumped in the back of a truck in northern Baghdad late Friday. He denounced the killings as a “criminal” act and said “we have nothing so far” to indicate government forces were to blame.

U.S. troops also found a large weapons cache west of Fallujah, the 11th such discovery in 13 days, the military said Saturday.

‘Civil disobedience’ threat

Leaders of several major Sunni Arab political organizations insisted the Interior Ministry was responsible for the killings.

Khalaf al-Ilyan, head of the National Dialogue Council, said the men were arrested by Interior Ministry troops at a Sunni mosque in Baghdad and killed in an unknown location.

“The government is pushing hard toward a civil war,” al-Ilyan told reporters.

Dr. Salman al-Jumaili, a senior member of the Iraqi Islamic Party, part of the largest Sunni bloc in the new parliament, threatened to carry through with a threat by his party’s leader Wednesday to launch a “civil disobedience” campaign if attacks against Sunnis do not stop.

Shiites, an estimated 60 percent of Iraq’s 27 million people, also have suffered from sectarian killings and suicide bombings.

Oppressed under Saddam Hussein, Shiites insist they must maintain control of the security forces to defend themselves and prevent the return of Saddam-style dictatorship.

Late Saturday, a mortar shell exploded a few yards from a Shiite shrine in Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad. One person was killed and 12 were injured, including three children, police Capt. Layth Mohammed said.

Top Sunni political leaders have demanded Interior Minister Bayan Jabr from the biggest Shiite party be dismissed and the post in the new government go to someone without ties to Shiite religious parties.

U.S. and United Nations diplomats have also called for control of key security ministries to be kept out of sectarian groups. The issue may hinder quick agreement on a government when talks begin in earnest this month.

Looking ahead

Voters chose a new parliament in elections Dec. 15, but no government has been formed because major parties have been awaiting final certification of results, expected in the coming week.

Shiite religious parties, who dominate the outgoing government, won the biggest number of seats – 128 out of 275 – in the new parliament.

That’s not enough to govern without partners, and U.S. officials have pressed for a major role for Sunni Arabs as well as Kurds.

Sunni Arab parties won 55 seats, a threefold increase over representation in the outgoing parliament. The U.S. hopes an inclusive government will encourage many Sunni insurgents to lay down their arms and join the political process. Mainstream Sunni politicians warn that killings of Sunni civilians will undermine that goal.