Dozens were killed in weekend violence across Iraq, officials said Sunday, just days ahead of the start of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. Car bombs exploded in the cities of Ramadi and Falluja west of the Iraqi capital Sunday, killing at least eight people and wounding dozens of others, police sources said. The blasts followed three explosions at a busy market in the centre of Iraq's southern oil hub Basra late Saturday that killed at least 43 and wounded 185, officials said. Iraq has remained in a political limbo since an inconclusive March 7 election while Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish political factions try to sort out a coalition government. Politicians and security officials say insurgents appear to be trying to take advantage of the power vacuum. The bomb in Ramadi exploded near a restaurant in a busy area on the city's main street, killing at least seven people and wounding another 21, a police source said. Two other car bombs blew up in Falluja, about 50 km (32 miles) west of Baghdad.
