Iraq?s caretaker prime minister survived an assassination attempt by a suicide bomber on Wednesday on the eve of an expected announcement of a new government, as insurgent violence regained momentum. Iyad Allawi escaped unhurt said Thaier al-Naqib, a government spokesman. The attack came hours after President Jalal Talabani announced that he hoped the new government would be finalised yesterday ? more than 11 weeks after Iraq?s historic elections.

But he hands on a huge security challenge for his successor, Islamist Shi?ite politician Ibrahim Jaafari. The shooting of 19 Iraqi National Guardsmen at a soccer stadium north of Baghdad and Talabani?s account of 50 bodies being hauled from a river near the capital indicated a revival in violence despite a relative lull after Jan. 30 elections.

Three other car bombings in Baghdad killed at least two Iraqi civilians and wounded eight. And two car bombs struck the entrance of a US and National Guard base in Ramadi, a hotbed of resistance about 100 km (60 miles) west of Baghdad. A new democratically elected government in power could ease Iraqis? widespread frustration about the weeks of horse-trading even as rebel violence persists. ?We want to announce it (the new government) as soon as possible,» Talabani told reporters after meeting Jaafari, Allawi and Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, leader of Shi?ite Muslim party SCIRI. ?We are hoping it will happen tomorrow afternoon,? he said.

Iraqi leaders have been negotiating over the cabinet since January?s elections that brought a Shi?ite majority to power. But disagreements over distribution of ministries and on how the Sunni minority should be brought into the political process have held up the formation of the government. Much of the squabbling has focused on the oil, interior and defence ministries. The interior ministry, responsible for internal security, is expected to go to a member of SCIRI, the main party in the Shi?ite alliance.

<B>Rebel violence persists</B>

US and Iraqi officials have worried that delays in forming the government will hurt the battle against insurgents. A key concern is whether the new government headed by Shi?ites like Jaafari would change tack and do away with units like the Sunni-led commandos that have shown results against rebels. Those tough questions come as bloodshed returns to levels seen over the past two years, when suicide bombings, kidnappings and beheadings have undermined oil power Iraq?s efforts to rebuild after 24 years of dictatorship and several major wars.

Talabani said more than 50 bodies believed to be those of hostages held in Madaen, an agricultural town about 45 km (25 miles) southeast of Baghdad, had been taken from the Tigris. ?We have the full names of those who were killed and those criminals who committed these crimes,? said the 71-year-old Kurdish leader. Shi?ite officials said on Saturday that Sunni militants had taken around 50 people hostage in Madaen and threatened them with death. Later they said the number could be as high as 150. Iraqi security forces raided the town but said they had found almost no evidence that anyone had been taken hostage or that there were any gunmen there. Later, Shi?ite officials said that dozens of bodies had been found in the Tigris south of Madaen, but a Reuters cameraman who visited the location found no evidence of any bodies. Tensions have been running high between Shi?ites and the once-dominant Sunni community since the election, particularly in relation to events such as the Madaen hostage crisis, which many Sunnis dismissed as a fabrication.

<B>Ian SIMPSON</B>

HOLY WAR

<B>Al Qaeda claims assassination bid on Allawi</B>

■ Iraq?s al Qaeda wing said yesterday it had tried to assassinate caretaker prime minister Iyad Allawi, according to a statement posted on the Internet.

?A lion from the martyrs? brigade launched a heroic attack on the headquarters of infidels ... and Jewish and Christian allies. Allawi escaped and the arrow missed, but there are many other arrows,? said the statement, which could not be immediately authenticated. One policeman was killed in the blast and four were wounded, police said. Allawi was unhurt.

Al Qaeda Organisation for Holy War in Iraq, led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has claimed responsibility for a string of attacks against US troops and the Iraqi government.