MANAMA, Aug 2 (AFP) - Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi here Monday blamed a string of church bombings in his country on Muslim extremists, while stating at the end of a regional tour that he has not yet been formally invited to Iran.
"Salafi fundamentalist forces stand behind this crime, as do some elements who harbored these forces from the remnants of the Saddam (Hussein) regime," Allawi told AFP before leaving Manama, the last leg of an eight-nation (eds: correct) tour aimed at normalising ties across the region.
"We strongly denounce this ugly crime ... (which) clearly shows that these forces are trying to harm Iraq and the people of Iraq ... and to drive a wedge between Iraq and countries of the world," he said.
Allawi also pledged that "the criminals will soon go on trial so that they get their punishment from Iraqi courts".
No one has so far been arrested in connection with Sunday's attacks in which at least 10 people were killed and some 50 wounded when six bombs blew up outside four churches in Baghdad and another in the northern city of Mosul.
The strikes were an unprecedented assault on Iraq's 700,000 Christians, who have traditionally lived in peace with the overwhelmingly Muslim majority.
A hitherto unknown group calling itself "Planning and Follow-up Committee in Iraq" on Monday claimed responsibility for the attacks, in a statement posted on an Islamist website.
"Your Mujahedeen (Islamic guerrilla) brothers dealt painful blows to the dens of the Crusaders, the dens of evil, corruption, vice and Christianization by blowing up four booby-trapped cars," said the statement.
Allawi also denied reports that he had cancelled a trip to neighbouring Iran during his two-week tour of Arab states, insisting that "there was no official invitation to Iran to cancel in the first place".
"Iran did not extend an invitation, there was only an oral invitation by the Iranian charge d'affaires in Iraq," he said.
The Iranian government, meanwhile, denied it was being snubbed by Allawi, whose spokesman said the prime minister still planned to visit Tehran as part of a tour of Islamic countries including Turkey.
The date would be set after Allawi returned home.
There has been a war of words between the two sides since Iraqi Defence Minister Hazem al-Shaalan said last week that he had seen "clear interference in Iraqi issues by Iran" and accused Tehran of working "to kill democracy" in his country.
Allawi said his regional tour was "fruitful ... and has led to important results both concerning bilateral relations and at the regional level".
"I have thanked the states which stood with Iraq, including Bahrain ... where I discussed bilateral relations concerning the economic situation, ways to consolidate trade ties as well as security concerns," he said.
"We discussed the detention of terrorist elements as well as the exchange and assessment of information in order to stop these terrorist forces and prevent them from inflicting more harm to the region and our peoples," he said.
A joint statement published by the official Bahrain News Agency (BNA) said that during his meeting with Allawi, King Hamad reiterated Bahrain's promise to contribute to Iraq's stability, security and unity.
"The two sides have agreed on the need to continue cooperation and coordination in order to achieve comprehensive development and reconstruction in Iraq," it said.
BNA said the Iraqi side "hailed Bahrain's initiatives for training in Iraq's judicial and banking sectors as well as its hosting of a number of regional conferences for the rebuilding of Iraq".
Allawi, who headed back to Baghdad according to the Iraqi embassy in Bahrain, also said that general elections due in January would be held "on time ... as the situation in Iraq will not affect this deadline".