Soaad Ahmed, 45, sits today inside her damaged hair salon in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad. Seven people were killed and at least 27 wounded overnight and early today in a series of bombings in Baqouba.

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Britain's foreign secretary told Iraqi leaders today they must form a national unity government free of domination by a single group, reinforcing U.S. pressure on political leaders to put aside ethnic and sectarian differences in the interest of the nation.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the results of the Dec. 15 parliamentary election showed the Iraqi people want a "broad government of national unity" to bring together "all the different elements" of Iraqi society.

"It is a crucial moment today for the people of Iraq," Straw told reporters alongside President Jalal Talabani. "The international community, particularly those of us who played a part in liberating Iraq, obviously have an interest in a prosperous and stable and democratic Iraq."

Straw said the election results showed that Iraqis want a government where "no party, no ethnic or religious grouping can dominate."

In the latest violence, seven people were killed and at least 27 wounded today in a series of bombings, some targeting liquor stores and women's hair salons in Baqouba, according to police.

The British official arrived in Baghdad late Monday after the United States' ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, delivered a blunt warning that Iraqi leaders risk losing American support unless they establish a national unity government with the police and the army out of the hands of religious parties.

There is growing international concern over the direction of the talks among Iraq's Shiite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish political parties as they attempt to put together a government following the December elections. Those talks, which began in earnest this month, have snagged because of deep divisions among the three groups.

The United States, Britain and other coalition members have a strong stake in the talks, believing that a national unity government is essential to their strategy of handing over security to Iraqi soldiers and police so that international troops can begin to go home this year.

One key issue is control of the ministries of Defense, which runs the army, and Interior, which manages the police. Sunni Arabs have accused the Shiite-run Interior Ministry of widespread human rights abuses, including kidnappings and murder.

Khalilzad told reporters Monday that those two ministries must be run by "people who are nonsectarian, broadly acceptable and who are not tied to militias" of political parties. Otherwise, he warned "Iraq faces the risk of warlordism that Afghanistan went through for a period."