Nine killed, 39 wounded, in Baghdad bomb attacks

Two bombs went off within minutes of each other today in northern Baghdad, killing at least nine people and wounding 39.

The explosions, one a parked car bomb and another a roadside bomb, were targeting a passing Iraqi army patrol at a busy intersection during the morning rush hour as people headed to work, police 1st Lt. Mohammed Khayun said.

Two of the dead and eight of the wounded were Iraqi soldiers, police said.

Hundreds of Iraqis have been killed by suicide bombings, shootings and mortar and rocket attacks over the past two weeks.

Police said 15 Iraqis died in violence across the country yesterday. In Saweria, a town about 30 miles south of Baghdad, the bodies of five other people were found dumped, all blindfolded, shot and tortured – signs of sectarian reprisal killings that have surged this year.

Yesterday, Iraq’s parliament resumed after its summer recess and voted to extend a state of emergency for a month. The measure, which has been in place for almost two years, covers every area except the autonomous Kurdish region in the north. It grants security forces the power to impose curfews and make arrests without warrants.

It has been renewed every month since first being authorised in November 2004, hours before US and Iraqi troops launched a big offensive to drive insurgents out of Fallujah, one of the main cities in the restive Anbar region west of Baghdad.

President Jalal Talabani expressed optimism yesterday that fighting would stop before the end of 2007, and he said Iraqi forces would be able to handle any remaining violence.

“I don’t think fighting will continue until then if the steps of national reconciliation go according to plan,” he said after meeting with visiting Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett. “If some groups are still fighting, our forces will be able to take care of it.”

Prime Minister Nouri Maliki’s reconciliation plan seeks to bridge religious, ethnic and political divisions that have been tearing at Iraq with daily violence.

The plan includes an offer of amnesty to members of the Sunni Arab-led insurgency not involved in terrorist activities, calls for disarming primarily Shiite sectarian militias and promises compensation for families of Iraqis killed by US and government forces.

Asked by reporters when Britain’s 7,000 soldiers might be able to leave Iraq, Talabani said “by the end of 2007”.

“We’ve achieved good success in building our forces and equipping them with the necessary arms,” he said, adding that “once violence declines, we will not need the presence of multinational forces in Iraq.”

But Mrs Beckett cautioned that Talabani was “not setting a deadline” for troop withdrawal.

“That’s the president’s personal opinion,” she said, adding that “the circumstances will be the judge of everything”.

Earlier, Mrs Beckett met with Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh and stressed the importance of transferring security from the US-led coalition to Iraqi forces. The handover is a key part of any eventual withdrawal of international troops in the country.

“There has been responsibility that has been transferred already and we hope and believe that that is a process that will continue,” Mrs Beckett said, adding it was “absolutely key that we see that responsibility being able to be exercised by the representatives of the elected government of Iraq.”

British troops handed over control of southern Muthanna province in July, and another southern province, Dhi Qar, is to follow this month.

But a disagreement emerged over the handover of Iraq’s armed forces command when a ceremony marking the transfer was called off at the last minute on Saturday.

Although neither side would elaborate on the exact reason, the Defence Ministry said it was necessary “to complete some legal and protocol procedures that will lead to a complete understanding between the Iraqi government and the multi-national troops.”

Ali al-Dabbagh, spokesman for the prime minister, said the ceremony would be held tomorrow.

A dispute over Iraq’s flag also showed no sign of abating.

Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish region, angered many in Baghdad with his decision on Friday to replace the Iraqi national flag with the Kurdish banner. The Kurdish region has been gaining more autonomy since the 2003 US-led invasion, a worrying development to many Iraqi leaders, especially Sunni Arabs.

Iraq’s first interim Governing Council after the fall of Saddam Hussein decided to change the country’s flag, but no official version has been adopted.

Talabani, a Kurd himself, said the media had blown the issue out of proportion. He said the current Iraqi flag “is the flag of (Saddam’s) Baath Party” and that Kurds have always worked toward national unity.

“The Kurds are not part of the problem, they are part of the solution,” he said.