Twin car bomb attack kills 23 in Iraq

A CAR-BOMB attack killed 23 people south of Baghdad in the latest atrocity to blight Iraq's build-up to sovereignty this week as the caretaker prime minister said instability could delay national elections for two months.

Twin car bombs exploded in the centre of Hilla, a mainly Shiite town 100 kilometres south of Baghdad which has remained relatively peaceful in recent months, late on Saturday.

The local hospital and the health ministry in Baghdad said 23 people had been killed, revising down a toll of up to 40 dead given earlier by the US-led coalition occupying Iraq.