A bomb exploded on a minibus in a Shi'ite area, killing three people and underscoring Iraq's grave security crisis.
Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari's own Dawa party and his key backer, radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, continued to stand behind him, despite opposition to his nomination by Sunni and Kurdish parties, said Bassem Sharif….WHO?
Shi'ite politicians were due to meet on Wednesday.
Mr Jaafari, who won the nomination for another term during a vote in February among Shi'ite legislators, has refused to step aside on several occasions.
Shi'ite leaders fear that forcing him out will fragment their alliance.
"I respect opposing points of view, but they should remember the people who have elected them, and made them the major parliament bloc," Mr Jaafari told reporters. "I hope the alliance remains faithful to the Iraqi people and their votes."
Some Shi'ite officials suggested that the alliance block Sunni and Kurdish candidates for key posts if they do not accept Mr Jaafari.
Mahmoud Othman, an elder Kurdish statesman, said these were "unjustifiable threats."
Sunni and Kurdish politicians said divisions within the Shi'ite alliance were making it difficult for the bloc to resolve the issue of Mr Jaafari.
These include bitter rivalry between al-Sadr's group and the biggest Shi'ite party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, or SCIRI.
Moqtada al-Sadr and others in the alliance prefer to stick by Mr Jaafari than risk having a candidate from SCIRI emerge.
"They are divided and that is the reason why they are not able to reach a quick decision on the candidate," Mr Othman said.
Mr Jaafari won the nomination of the Shi'ite alliance in balloting last February.
But Sunni and Kurdish parties, whom the Shi'ites need as partners in a national unity government, have refused to accept him.
Sectarian violence between Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims has threatened to push the country into all-out civil war.
Police discovered five corpses dumped in Musayyib, about
60 km south of Baghdad, while the body of a woman with an Iranian passport was found in the city of Baqouba. At least 17 bodies, most of them handcuffed and with multiple gun wounds, were also found in Baghdad.
hostage appeal
The wife of a US hostage abducted one year ago in Iraq has made a renewed plea for her husband's release.
Liliana Ake, wife of hostage Jeff Ake, told CNN that she and her four children have had "a very, very hard year" since her husband was abducted.
Jeff Ake was a contractor in Iraq "making certain that the Iraqi people have fresh water to drink," Liliana Ake said.
Addressing the abductors in a statement, she said: "When you kidnapped Jeff, you contacted me at my residence, and we discussed matters of importance to us both. My telephone number remains the same, and my willingness to continue this dialogue remains as strong as it was before.
"Please take the next step to release my husband and return his children's lives to normal."
The abductors initially contacted her demanding money, but have not contacted her in almost a year. "I never heard again from them as of May 1st of last year," she said.
Liliana Ake said her decision to go public was inspired by journalist Jill Carroll's family, who made a direct appeal to her Iraqi kidnappers soon after she was abducted.
Ms Carroll, a journalist, was released on March 30.
Nearly 450 foreigners and an unknown number of Iraqis are currently held captive in Iraq.