Iraqi talks deadlock as attacks kill at least 29

IRAQI politicians tried again yesterday to end a near three-month deadlock over forming a new transitional government, as the death toll from car bombings targeting police and civilians in Saddam Hussein’s hometown and Baghdad rose to 29.

Insurgents, launched two attacks aimed at Iraq’s oil industry in the north, setting fire to pumps near Kirkuk and opening fire on police guarding a convoy of tanker trucks, officials said.

A suicide car bomb exploded in Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, wounding two civilians and slightly damaging a US Marine vehicle, the US military said.