Car bomb targeting rescuers kills 19

? Gunmen attacked a parking lot in a Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad on Tuesday, shooting the guards and detonating a car bomb near an oil tanker. At least 19 people were killed and dozens wounded.

The attack unfolded in the northern commercial district of Shaab, where police Capt. Ali al-Obeidi said the gunmen first shot five guards at the open-air lot that served as a parking area and small market.

As bystanders rushed to the scene to rescue the victims, a car bomb blew up next to an oil tanker, which exploded in a fireball. AP Television News footage showed the remnants of an exploded car and sandals and clothes of the dead and injured.

The attack seemed to be aimed at killing as many people as possible. The motive was unclear, but it may have been sectarian.

Police also said a United Arab Emirates diplomat was kidnapped late Tuesday in Baghdad. The diplomat was not identified. At least six other Arab embassy workers have been kidnapped since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, some by al-Qaida in Iraq to undercut support for the U.S.-backed government among Arab countries.

Escalating violence across the country left at least 36 people dead Tuesday as Iraq’s prime minister-designate announced he was close to forming a new government before Monday’s deadline.

U.S. toll

As of Tuesday, at least 2,449 members of the U.S. military have died since the start of the war in 2003, according to a count by The Associated Press.

Any final agreement appeared to hinge on whether the largest Shiite bloc in parliament could strike a deal with the largest Sunni Arab bloc over the interior and defense ministries. Prime Minister-designate Nouri al-Maliki said his Cabinet was “mostly complete” after meeting with deputies from the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance party, which controls 130 seats in the 275-member parliament.

Before Tuesday’s attacks, at least 3,706 Iraqis had been killed in war-related violence so far in 2006 and at least 3,978 wounded based on Associated Press reports, which may not be complete because the report process does not cover the entire country. During May, at least 511 Iraqis have been killed and at least 537 wounded.

A U.S. soldier died when a roadside bomb exploded near an airfield in Baghdad. Two other soldiers were killed Monday when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb near Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad.