Iraq car bomb attack kills 10, wounds 45

A SUICIDE bomber detonated an explosive-packed vehicle yesterday outside an Iraqi police station in a Kurdish neighbourhood, killing at least 10 people and wounding at least 45 others.

The attack was the latest in a string of vehicle and suicide bombings against Iraqi security forces and others seen as cooperating with the US-led occupation, that have killed more than 300 people this year, most of them Iraqis.

It was also the third blast since last month to target Kurds, who are pressing to maintain their self-rule region in northern Iraq.

The blast occurred as US Defence Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld arrived in Baghdad for a visit. He met four members of Iraq's new security forces yesterday and said he was impressed with their progress.

"We're looking forward to seeing Iraqis take responsibility for the security of your country," he said.

The US intends to transfer power to the Iraqis on June 30 but its plans have hit controversies.

Leaders of the country's Shi'ite Muslim majority have demanded quick elections to establish a government, and an influential cleric warned yesterday of civil war between Iraq's ethnic groups if a vote is delayed.

In the Kirkuk attack, the bomber detonated his vehicle as police changed shifts.

A group of 20 policemen was gathered outside the Rahimawa station, said station chief, Col. Adel Ibrahim.

As policemen drove up in a convoy, "a civilian car followed them and ran into the last car in the convoy and exploded," Col. Thamer Abdul-Masih, head of the Facilities Protection Police, said. "Whoever did this knew the policemen's shifts."

The explosion damaged buildings and destroyed cars. Blood was splattered over the station's entrance, and parts of the bomb-laden car lay scattered in front.

Among the dead was the station's deputy chief.

The injured included five school-children.

Kirkuk has seen rising ethnic tensions as Kurds, Arabs and Turkomen vie for control of the city, in one of the world's richest oil-producing region.

It is one of the issues facing the 25-member Iraqi Governing Council as it tries to work out a federal system to decentralise government in the future Iraq. The council is drawing up an interim constitution and a final version is due this week. The US had intended to transfer power to a government chosen ultimately by regional council until elections in 2005, but the plans were thrown into disarray when Shi'ite clergy demanded elections.

The United Nations ruled last week that an election before July was unfeasible.