In the latest wave of violence to strike the capital, Baghdad, at least 30 people have reportedly been killed in a series of car bombings on Saturday. The attacks came at the end of the day-long fast Muslims are observing during the month of Ramadan.

Martin Kobler, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) and head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), condemned “in the strongest terms” these attacks as well as other violent acts that have killed and injured hundreds of innocent people.

“These criminal acts targeting Muslims praying in mosques or gathering after breaking their fast are senseless. The holy month of Ramadan should be a time for spirituality and forgiveness, instead of increasing violence and division,” he stated.

“I am deeply saddened that my last words as the SRSG for Iraq have to be linked to violence and criminal acts,” he added. “I call on all Iraqis not to let violence prevail and to work together toward peace and dialogue, the only sustainable solution.”

Last week, in his final briefing to the Security Council as the UN envoy for Iraq, Mr. Kobler noted an “alarming” scale of renewed violence in the country during the latest four months, with nearly 3,000 people killed and over 7,000 more wounded.

He added that Iraq’s transition towards democracy and prosperity is in a crucial phase, and warned that with violence spiking, perpetrators are taking advantage of the instability caused by the ongoing political stalemate and the crisis in neighbouring Syria.

Mr. Kobler, a German national, will soon take up his new post as the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and head of the UN peacekeeping mission there.

“We took a decision to suspend the licence of some satellite channels that adopted language encouraging violence and sectarianism,”  Mujahid Abu al-Hail of the Communications and Media Commission told AFP on Sunday.

Al Jazeera has not been formally notified of the ban it said.

The ban includes 9 other satellite TV channels.

The move comes after a wave of violence that began on Tuesday with clashes between security forces and Sunni Arab protesters in northern Iraq that has killed a total of more than 170 people.

The violence is the deadliest so far linked to demonstrations that broke out in Sunni areas of the Shia-majority country.

The protesters have called for the resignation of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki for allegedly targeting their community.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called for peace in a speech on Iraqi TV on Saturday.

In his speech, he said sectarian conflict had returned to Iraq “because it began in another place in this region” – a clear reference to Syria.

The protesters have called for the resignation of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shiite, and railed against authorities for allegedly targeting their community.

U.N. special representative to Iraq Martin Kobler, who has condemned the 5-day violence in Northern Iraq, said Thursday that civilian and government leaders must work together to calm Iraq’s society.

“These are despicable and brutal acts of violence, particularly in such sensitive areas as Kirkuk,” said Martin Kobler, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).

A series of car bombs near Shia Muslim mosques targeting worshippers attending Friday prayers have killed at least 18 people and injured more than 100, according to Al Jazeera.

The blasts on Friday, struck within an hour of each other in the Baghdad neighbourhoods of Binook, Qahira, Zafraniyah and Jihad, as well as in an area of the northern city of Kirkuk, the news agency added.

“These acts will not undermine the true and deep believe in peaceful coexistence among the people of the symbolic province of Kirkuk,” Mr. Kobler added.

No group immediately has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Sunni Muslim fighters linked to al-Qaeda frequently target Shia Muslims.

The latest blasts come just days after the 10th anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq in, which tousted the regime of Saddam Hussein.

Mr. Kobler extended his deep sympathy and sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to those who were injured.

On Saturday 17 February, at least 84 people, mostly Shiite Hazaras, were killed when a bomb exploded in a vegetable market in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province.

The bombing was claimed by the anti-Shiite armed group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ). LeJ also claimed responsibility for a series of bombings targeting Hazaras in Quetta on 10 January 2013 that claimed more than 90 lives.

“These attacks demonstrate Lashkar-e-Jhangvi’s utter disregard for human rights and basic principles of humanity,” said Isabelle Arradon, Amnesty International’s Deputy Asia-Pacific Director.

“Also shocking is the continued failure of the authorities to bring to justice any of those responsible for committing these killings, or inciting others to carry them out.”

To Amnesty International’s knowledge, no one has been prosecuted for the January 2013 attacks or other targeted killings of Hazaras in recent years.

The authorities also have a poor record of prosecuting those who incite attacks on people on the basis of their religious beliefs, including prominent leaders of groups like LeJ.

“The failure to bring these perpetrators to justice sends the signal that they can continue to commit these outrageous abuses with impunity,” said Arradon.

Amnesty International has documented 91 separate attacks on Shiites across Pakistan since January 2012 that have resulted in around 500 fatalities.

Amnesty International calls on the Pakistani authorities to immediately carry out an impartial and independent investigation into the persistent failure of civil and military authorities to end such attacks.

“The Pakistani security authorities must be held accountable for their failure to protect Quetta’s Hazara community and the population at large,” Arradon said.

“The Central Criminal Court of Iraq (CCCI) issued verdict of penalties by hanging against Tariq al-Hashimi and his son-in-law Ahmed Qahtan after finding them guilty in the case of bombing a KIA minibus among Shiite pilgrims on the major Shiite ritual of Ashura last year,” the spokesman of the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) Abdul-Sattar al-Biraqdar told reporters, according to Xinhua.

The court passed the sentence in absentia on al-Hashemi who is currently in Turkey.

Al-Hashemi and his aide and son-in-law Ahmed Qahtan received last Thursday the second death sentence on charges of instigating the killing of an interior ministry official.

Last September they were sentenced to death for their involvement in the killing of an Iraqi army officer and a lawyer.

Iraq’s Shiite-led government has accused al-Hashemi of being involved in 150 bombings, assassinations and other attacks from 2005 to 2011 most of which were allegedly carried out by his bodyguards and other employees. Al-Hashemi has claimed that his bodyguards were likely tortured or otherwise coerced into testifying against him.

Interpol has also issued a “red notice” for al-Hashimi in May, “on suspicion of guiding and financing terrorist attacks in the country.” The notice calls on the 190 countries that belong to the international police organization to help locate and arrest him, at the request of the Iraqi authorities. No such action has been taken to arrest him since the notice was issued. Al-Hashimi is now living in Turkey. Before that, he lived in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region and also traveled to Saudi Arabia and Qatar at the invitation of those governments.

Soon after U.S. troops fully withdrew from Iraq late last year, Iraq plunged into serious political problems as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki sought to arrest his political rival Hashimi, a leading member of the Sunni-backed political bloc of Iraqia, over terror charges.