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SECURITY. Iraqi policemen stand guard during the Iraqi legislative election at a polling station in Baghdad, Iraq, 30 April 2014. Photo by Ali Abbas/EPA

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Violence in Iraq, including shelling in a militant-held city and an attack targeting Shiite pilgrims, has killed more than 30 people in 24 hours, officials said Sunday, May 4, 2014.

The bloodshed comes as officials count ballots from the April 30 general election, the first since US troops withdrew in late 2011, and amid a protracted surge in nationwide unrest that has sparked fears of a return to the sectarian killing sprees of 2006-2007.

While officials are quick to blame external factors like the civil war in neighboring Syria for the heightened violence, analysts and diplomats say widespread anger among the Sunni Arab minority is also a key cause.

In Fallujah, just a short drive west of Baghdad, shelling in southern areas of the city killed 11 people and wounded four, Doctor Ahmed Shami said.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the bombardment, which began on Saturday evening and continued into Sunday.

In a sign of both the reach of anti-government militants and the weakness of security forces, all of Fallujah and shifting parts of Anbar provincial capital Ramadi, farther west, have been out of government control since early January.

The crisis in the desert province of Anbar, which shares a long border with conflict-hit Syria, erupted in late December when security forces dismantled Iraq's main Sunni Arab anti-government protest camp just outside Ramadi.

Militants subsequently seized parts of Ramadi and all of Fallujah, the first time anti-government forces have exercised such open control in major cities since the peak of the deadly violence that followed the US-led invasion of 2003.

North of Baghdad, a bombing and shooting targeted a bus carrying Shiite pilgrims on Saturday evening, killing 11 people and wounded 21, police and a doctor said.

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Iraq violence kills over 30 people in 24 hours

Libya Set to Elect New Prime Minister
Egypt #39;s neighbor Libya, is bracing for the final round of elections for a new prime minister on Sunday. A 200 member General National Congress (GNC) is assig...

By: HaberKurdistan

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Libya Set to Elect New Prime Minister - Video

Reporting from Cairo

Libya has a new prime minister. But in keeping with months of chaos in the North African nation, the events leading up to Sundays swearing-in were confusing and turbulent.

Ahmed Matiq, an Islamist-leaning businessman from the economically important western city of Misrata, took the oath of office in a televised ceremony. But the balloting by lawmakers that preceded his inauguration was murky.

Secularists walked out of the proceedings, and a vote televised by the state broadcaster initially indicated Matiq had not received sufficient support. But a reconvened session and a new tally with one vote more than the 120 votes he needed was announced by the state news agency LANA.

Addressing lawmakers, Matiq thanked them for the vote of confidence. His main rival had been a more rigorous Islamist.

Even carrying out a vote was something of a triumph for Libyas beleaguered government. Last week, the balloting was put off after armed men tried to overrun the parliament, triggering a firefight. Security has generally deteriorated in the capital, Tripoli, in recent months, with armed factions often overrunning government installations.

The previous Western-backed prime minister, Ali Zidan, left Libya this year after parliament forced him out with a no-confidence vote. That came on the heels of a crisis during which rebels in eastern Libya seized millions of dollars worth of crude oil and tried to sell it on the black market via an illicit tanker shipment.

The vessel was intercepted by U.S. Navy SEALs and brought back to a government-controlled port.

Late last year, armed militiamen kidnapped Zidan from the luxury hotel that had been his home base, leading him away in his pajamas. Zidans defense minister, Abdullah Thinni, took over temporarily as prime minister after Zidan's ouster by lawmakers, but declined to form a government.

The two years since longtime dictator Moammar Kadafi was overthrown with NATO's help and then killed have been strife-ridden, with many Libyans deeply disappointed by the outcome of a revolution that swiftly devolved into a civil war.

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Libya elects a prime minister in chaotic session of parliament

TRIPOLI, Libya Libya's parliament has sworn in a new prime minister despite a disputed vote.

A Libyan television station and lawmakers say the country's interim parliament swore in 42-year-old businessman Ahmed Matiq after a vote Sunday.

Initially, only 113 lawmakers voted for Matiq, falling short of the 120 votes necessary to secure his win. After the session was adjourned, Libyan TV station Al-Ahrar reported that voting resumed and Matiq secured eight new votes.

Lawmaker Mohammed Samoud confirmed Matiq, from Misrata, won.

Lawmaker Fatma al-Majbari told Al-Ahrar the new votes came after the session was adjourned. She says she will contest the decision.

Omar al-Hassi, a political science professor from the country's second-largest city of Benghazi, ran against Matiq. He is backed by the hard-line Islamist bloc in parliament.

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Libya's parliament swears in Ahmed Matiq as prime minister after disputed vote

Ahmed Miitig is named Libya's new prime minister after a chaotic session of the General National Congress (GNC) on Sunday, May 4

TRIPOLI, Libya (Update 2) An Islamist-backed businessman was named Libya's new prime minister Sunday, May 4, days after gunmen stormed the General National Congress to interrupt an earlier ballot.

Ahmed Miitig, 42, won the vote in parliament to become Libya's youngest and 5th prime minister since veteran dictator Moamer Kadhafi was toppled and killed in a 2011 uprising.

Since then successive governments in the oil-rich North African country have struggled to impose order as heavily armed former rebel brigades have carved out their own fiefdoms and refused to join the security forces.

The job of prime minister has proven challenging and dangerous. Ali Zeidan, who was voted out by parliament for failing to prevent a rebel oil shipment in March, had been kidnapped by gunmen last year and held for several hours before being released.

Last month Zeidan's defence minister Abdullah al-Thani was appointed to replace him, but stepped down after just five days, saying he and his family had come under attack.

State television broadcast chaotic footage from Sunday's session.

At first GNC vice president Ezzedin al-Awami said Miitig defeated university professor Omar al-Hassi by 73-43 votes but mustered only 113 of the 120 votes required by the constitution in a vote of confidence.

But GNC official Salah al-Makhzoum later announced that the relatively unknown businessman had clinched 121 votes in the 185-seat interim parliament, apparently after a recount.

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Islamist-backed businessman named Libya PM