A bomb blew apart a minibus in central Baghdad on Sunday, killing nine people, the day after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki again called on ethnically and religiously divided Iraqis to reconcile to end the bloodshed.

The blast followed a car bomb attack on the offices of Iraq?s best-selling newspaper, the government-owned al-Sabah, which killed two employees and damaged the building extensively. It blast occurred despite a major security operation by thousands of American and Iraqi troops to bring peace to the capital. Sectarian and insurgent violence claimed the lives of more than 3,000 Iraqis in July alone.

Police said 20 bodies had been found in various districts of Baghdad on Saturday. Some bore signs of torture and most had been killed by gunshots to the head, a typical feature of the communal bloodshed between the Shi?ite and Sunni sects. Maliki urged tribal leaders who gathered in the capital on Saturday to use their influence to unite Iraqis to end the violence, which has raised fears of all-out civil war.

Police said a bomb had been planted in the minibus that blew up in Saadoun Street, one of Baghdad?s busiest thoroughfares. Al-Sabah?s offices were hit by a car bomb, the second this year, which killed a guard and a second employee, editor-in-chief Falah al-Meshaal said.

Meshaal said the newspaper, part of the U.S.-funded Iraqi Media Network, would be published as normal today: ?This is the work of takfiris and terrorists who don?t want the truth printed in the new Iraq.? The blast demolished the facade of the newspaper?s production department.

Insurgents fighting to topple the U.S.-backed Shi?ite-led government of national unity often target journalists working for state media.

Tribal leaders attending Saturday?s meeting vowed to use their authority to end the bloodletting, but it is unclear how effective they can be among Iraqis increasingly turning to religious leaders for guidance. ?We pledge before Allah and the Iraqi people that we will be believers, devoted and serious in preserving the unity of our country?s people and ... ending the spilling of Iraqi blood,? said a ?pact of honor? read out at the conference.

Crucially, no major Sunni rebel group has signed up to Maliki?s national reconciliation plan and the prime minister has offered only a limited amnesty.