At least six Iraqis were killed and 18 more were wounded in light violence. Security was tightened around some locations following a particularly bloody day in southern Iraq yesterday. Meanwhile, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the United States could keep troops in Iraq beyond a 2011 deadline if Iraqis make the request. Also, Three British soldiers were referred to a prosecutor and could face a war crimes trial over allegations they abused Iraqi detainees.
Iraqiya party leader Ayad Allawi and Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi were absent from a second day of multi-party talks designed to hasten the formation of the new government. Among the issues affecting talks are curtailing Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s powers and ensuring Kurds and Sunnis retain respectable power.
In Baghdad, security forces killed a man trying to plant a bomb. In Mansour, mortars killed a civilian, while a female body was found behind a school. Three other blasts in Mansour left four wounded. A sticky bomb wounded three people in Jamiaa. A second bomb there wounded three more, including an intelligence officer. Late in the day, a blast in Ameriya killed one and wounded six others. No casualties were reported after an attack on a liquor store.
In Mosul, a goldsmith and a gunman were killed during and after a robbery. A grenade thrown into a home injured two people, one of them a child. Security was tightened around Christian targets and Mosul University in al-Majmouaa al-Thaqafiya.
A decapitated body was found in Babel province.
An assassination attempt failed to harm a local official in Rabeaa.
Three bombs left no casualties in Tal Afar, where a weapons cache was also found.
Twelve suspects were captured in Missan province.
