At least 10 Iraqis were killed and another 12 were wounded in the latest
attacks. No Coalition deaths were reported. Meanwhile, the resignation of the
parliamentary speaker allowed the passage of a measure that will govern foreign
troops in the coming months. Also, U.S. General Ray Odierno said
that the situation in Iraq is still "fragile."
Mahmoud al-Mashhadani resigned
as speaker of parliament after days of heated arguments that were inflamed by
debate over the journalist shoe-thrower. Although al-Mashhadani has threatened
time and again to quit, this time fellow lawmakers forced him out. It is unknown
whether the concessions he demanded
were granted. Shortly afterwards, parliament was able to pass a measure that will
allow British and other foreign troops to remain in Iraq after the U.N. measure
that currently governs them expires. The U.S. will operate under a separate agreement.
Nineteen security officials who had been accused of a coup plot are
now out on bail and facing forgery charges instead.
Five
people were killed in Tarmiyah, including a police colonel and his
wife, when a roadside bomb blasted them near a police convoy. At least four
others were wounded.
A man
was strangled to death in Mussayab.
A bound
body bearing torture marks was discovered in Kifl.
In Kirkuk,
assailants stabbed a man to death.
A liquor-store owner was kidnapped
last night. Police arrested
several suspects believed involved in a major bombing earlier in the month; 250
kilos of TNT and other explosives were confiscated as well.
In Mosul,
a bomb killed
a child and would six others. Gunmen killed
a doctor. Two suspects were detained.
In Baghdad, gunmen wounded
two policemen. Security forces liberated
a kidnap victim from Arbil; his abductors fled after a shootout.
Fourteen
suspects were detained in Dhi
Qar.
Two gunmen were arrested
in Makhmour.
In a southeastern province, Turkish police
forces found
a truck carrying equipment that could be used in bombmaking. They believe the
equipment belongs to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and the separatists were
planning an attack in Diyerbaker.
Compiled by Margaret
Griffis