Baghdad, May 7, SPA -- CAR BOMBS KILLED 30 PEOPLE IN IRAQ ON SUNDAY AND WOUNDED MORE THAN 70 IN ONE OF THE BLOODIEST SPASMS OF VIOLENCE OF RECENT WEEKS AS POLITICAL LEADERS CLOSED IN ON A DEAL TO FORM A NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT. THE SOUTHERN CITY OF BASRA WAS LARGELY CALM AS BRITISH MILITARY ENGINEERS EXAMINED THE WRECK OF A HELICOPTER WHOSE APPARENT SHOOTING DOWN WAS FOLLOWED BY CLASHES BETWEEN TROOPS AND YOUTHS CHANTING TRIUMPHAL SHI’ITE MILITIA SLOGANS. TWENTY-ONE PEOPLE WERE KILLED AND 52 WOUNDED WHEN A CAR BOMB WENT OFF CLOSE TO THE MAIN CENTRAL BUS STATION IN THE SHI’ITE HOLY CITY OF KERBALA, 110 KM (70 MILES) SOUTH OF BAGHDAD, POLICE SAID. AROUND THE SAME TIME, TWO CARS EXPLODED IN THE CAPITAL. A SUICIDE CAR BOMBER HIT AN IRAQI ARMY PATROL IN THE MAINLY SUNNI NORTHERN DISTRICT OF AADHAMIYA, KILLING EIGHT PEOPLE AND WOUNDING 15. SOLDIERS AND CIVILIANS WERE AMONG THE CASUALTIES. IRAQI AND U.S. FORCES CONDUCTED A SWEEP FOR REBELS IN AADHAMIYA ON SATURDAY, THE U.S. MILITARY SAID. THE AREA IS A STRONGHOLD OF SUNNI ARAB INSURGENTS. A SECOND CAR BOMB EXPLODED AT A BUSY TRAFFIC INTERSECTION IN NORTHERN BAGHDAD, KILLING ONE CIVILIAN AND WOUNDING FIVE. THE TARGET WAS NOT CLEAR. The Associated Press quoted the INTERIOR MINISTRY SOURCES as saying that 42 BODIES HAD BEEN FOUND IN THE LAST 24 HOURS IN THE CAPITAL ALONE, INCLUDING EIGHT FOUND DUMPED NEAR KINDI HOSPITAL IN CENTRAL BAGHDAD. --SPA 1053 Local Time 0753 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/358943