Insurgents kill at least 24 people in Baghdad violence

Andrew Marshall, Baghdad

In the deadliest attack, a suicide bomber strapped with explosives blew himself up at an army recruitment centre at a former airfield in western Baghdad, killing at least 13 people and wounding 15. Suicide bombers have repeatedly targeted crowds of Iraqis queuing up to join the security forces.

Gunmen also ambushed a police convoy, shooting dead 10 policemen and then setting their vehicles ablaze, police said.

A car bomb was detonated as the deputy interior minister's convoy drove past, killing one of his bodyguards and wounding six people, police said. The official was unhurt.

Over the past week guerrillas have stepped up their campaign of violence, defying predictions the insurgency would crumble following January 30 elections and the formation of a new cabinet. Iraq's new cabinet was formally sworn in on Tuesday, a move which Iraqi and US officials hoped would improve stability.

But squabbling among factions caused a three- month delay in installing the cabinet after the January polls a hiatus exploited by the insurgents. Although a cabinet is finally in place, five portfolios have yet to be filled, including the defence and oil ministries, as rival political blocs continue to bicker.

In a decision likely to stir new controversy over the US military justice system, the 1st Marine Division said no charges would be filed against a marine who shot three wounded and unarmed Iraqi prisoners in a mosque in Fallujah during a major USAmerican military offensive there last November. One of the shootings was filmed by an NBC journalist. The footage shows an Iraqi prisoner slumped on the floor of the mosque. After yelling that the man was faking death, the marine shoots him in the head.

But the 1st Marine Division said the marine was acting in self-defence as troops had been warned that some insurgents were feigning death or injury and then attacking.

The decision not to court-martial the soldier follows another controversial US military probe that exonerated USAmerican soldiers who killed an Italian secret service agent at a checkpoint in Baghdad in March. But Italy refused to endorse the report, and blamed nervous US soldiers.

One Italian government minister called the US report "a lie", though Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi sought to play down the impact.

Another US ally, Bulgaria, is moving ahead with plans to end its unpopular troop deployment in Iraq.

Yesterday, parliament approved a government plan to cut troop numbers in Iraq by next month and withdraw the country's 450-strong unit completely by the end of the year.