Iraqis ready to control some cities

Iraqi troops are ready to take control of some cities as a first step toward sending home American and other foreign soldiers, Iraq’s prime minister said. But he rejected any timetable for a pull-out.

Underscoring the ongoing security crisis, gunmen killed four Iraqi human rights activists yesterday in Baghdad, a car bomb killed at least three people in the northern city of Kirkuk, and a US soldier died of wounds suffered in a land mine explosion.