Tuesday: 2 Iraqis Killed, 7 Wounded

Updated at 8:27 p.m. EST, Feb. 2, 2010

At least two Iraqis were killed and seven more were wounded in light violence. Meanwhile, a former minister under Tony Blair, Claire Short, called Blair a liar and further accused him of stifling discussion leading up to the war. Also, Parliamentary Deputy Adil Badrawi called for a "serious dialogue" between the U.S. and Iran to prevent a regional war.

In Mosul, a hand grenade wounded three people, including a policeman, a civilian, and a child. Gunmen killed two civilians in separate attacks elsewhere.

In Baghdad, three Shi’ite pilgrims were injured during a blast in Zaafaraniya. An explosive device was defused.

One policeman was injured during a sticky bomb blast in Taji.

A child kidnapped in Fallujah was liberated after two days; his captors were not found.

Two bombs were defused in Khalis.

Diyala province deployed 20,000 policemen to protect Shi’ite pilgrims traveling through the province on their way to Karbala.

Basra has banned beggars in an attempt to reduce violence ahead of elections; officials believe gunmen could disguise themselves as beggars. Although Basra has reportedly made great strides in reducing violence, few actual new items escape the province, giving poor measure of actual advances. Meanwhile, police arrested a number of oil smugglers and seized two tankers. Fourteen other suspects were captured as well.

Joint security forces, including U.S. personnel, captured ten suspects across Kirkuk.

An al-Qaeda suspect was captured and five explosives belts were seized in Mansuriya.

Two Saidiya policemen were detained on suspicion of supporting armed groups.

Jordan and Iraq are close to finalizing the transfer of Jordanian prisoners detained in Iraq back to Jordan. Many of the 46 detainees are being held without charges, which is a common complaint in the Iraq justice system.

The Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS) blamed yesterday’s major bomb attack on the current Iraqi government and U.S. forces. The group, which rejects the Iraqi government as illegitimate, was formed by Sunni scholars shortly after the fall of Saddam Hussein and rejects sectarian violence.

The International Red Cross assisted in repatriating nine Iranian soldiers, who died during the Iraq-Iran War.

China agreed to cancel 80 percent of Iraq’s 8.5-billion-dollar debt.

Scores of suspects were arrested across Anbar province, and nine explosives belts were seized.

Author: Margaret Griffis

Margaret Griffis is a journalist from Miami Beach, Florida and has been covering Iraqi casualties for Antiwar.com since 2006.