Iraq Shi'ites see reasons for death squad killings

BAGHDAD, July 10 (Reuters) - While condemning in public the sectarian death squads that gunned down 40 people on Sunday in a Sunni part of Baghdad, some Iraqi Shi'ite leaders say in private retaliation for Sunni insurgent bomb attacks is understandable.

The bloodiest such violence yet in the capital has rekindled fears of all-out civil war and posed serious questions over Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's ability to keep a promise to curb violence by fellow Shi'ites.

Shi'ite leaders, talking privately on Monday, spoke with resignation, saying more bloodshed is inevitable in Iraq's culture of vendetta and that clerical restraint on Shi'ites is flagging in the face of repeated Sunni bombings.

"It is very, very difficult for us to justify why we are not taking revenge," said a senior Shi'ite figure linked to one of the most powerful militia groups, saying that his movement was not carrying out killings but could understand those who were.

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