Suicide attackers kill 27 after al-Zarqawi warning to Iraqis

INSURGENTS in Iraq staged a series of car bombings and other attacks yesterday, killing at least 27 people and wounding dozens a day after the country's first democratic government was approved.

Meanwhile, Iraq's most-wanted terrorist purportedly threatened more violence and warned Iraqis against collaborating with the Americans.

The man claiming to be Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, speaking on an audiotape posted yesterday on a website, directly addressed US President George Bush.

"You, Bush, we will not rest until we avenge our dignity," the voice said. "We will not rest while your army is here as long as there is a pulse in our veins."

It wasn't clear when the tape was made and its authenticity could not be verified. The voice on the tape sounded similar to previous audiotapes attributed to the Jordanian-born militant.

At least 10 car bombs exploded in seven areas in and around Baghdad, the US military said. Four American soldiers sustained minor injuries in the attacks.

"We see these attacks as another desperate attempt by the terrorists to discredit the newly formed Iraqi government," the US-led coalition said in a statement.

The most serious of the attacks involved four suicide bombs, which exploded in the Azamiyah section of central Baghdad.

The first one hit an Iraqi army patrol, the second a police patrol and the third and fourth struck separate barricades near the headquarters of the Interior Ministry's local special forces unit.

At least 20 Iraqis, including 15 soldiers and five civilians, were killed and at least 30 troops and 35 civilians were injured.

Insurgents also staged a dramatic ambush against Iraqi forces in Madain, a town southeast of the capital that was the site of an Iraqi raid against militants earlier this month that drew praise from the US military.

A roadside bomb was detonated, then two suicide bombers drove their cars from two different directions into police special officers as they arrived to investigate, killing two Iraqi police and wounding six.

A suicide attacker also blew up an ambulance near a police special forces patrol in Baquba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, killing four people, including two policemen. Also in Baquba, a Sunni cleric believed to be a senior member of al-Zarqawi's Al-Qaida in Iraq group blew himself up as security forces surrounded the city's al-Aqsa mosque.

Ali Fadhil of the joint operation centre said: "Imam Abdul Razaq Rashid Hamid... came out from the mosque with two hand grenades as our forces were surrounding the mosque.

"He threw one of the grenades at the forces while blowing himself with the second one."

The violence came after Iraq's National Assembly approved an interim cabinet on Thursday, laying the groundwork for the first elected government in Iraq's history to take office.

The new cabinet held its first meeting Thursday night to discuss a handover between Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and his successor, Ibrahim al-Jaafari. The incoming premier's office said the handover would take place on Tuesday.

US officials had been pressing for a resolution to nearly three months of political wrangling over the composition of the new cabinet, worrying the political vacuum was encouraging insurgents.

But the Shi'ite-dominated Cabinet so far excludes the Sunni minority from meaningful positions, which had been seen as a way to cut into insurgents' Sunni support base and help curb the violence.

Nearly a third of the 275-member National Assembly stayed away from the vote, underscoring the country's myriad ethnic and religious divisions.