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
