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Iraqi Prime Minister Says Violence Decreasing in Iraq
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?r=279&ctl=13AD7D1:A6F02AD83191E16065B5C20F9C3AF5D79574F7DCC14957C0 Police say 14
people were wounded in the blast that occurred near an entrance to the
Palestine Hotel  





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Iraq's prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, center, raises hands along with
tribal leaders, during a unity conference in Baghdad

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says the violence is decreasing
in Iraq and Iraqi forces are making progress in securing the country.

He made the comment in an interview on CNN television Sunday, the same
day that bomb attacks in Iraq killed at least 15 people.

 

Mr. Maliki said Iraq is not in a civil war, and never will be.  He
would not specify how long he thought American troops would be needed
in Iraq.   

The violence in Iraq Sunday included a bomb on a minibus near the
Palestine Hotel in Baghdad that killed at least six people.  A car
bombing outside the offices of the state-run al-Sabah newspaper in the
capital killed at least two.

 







Wreckage of minibus outside the Palestine Hotel in Sadoun
neighbourhood of Baghdad, August 27, 2006

In al-Khalis, North of Baquba, six people were killed by a bomb in a
marketplace, and a suicide bomber in Kirkuk killed a security guard
near the office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.

The U.S. military also says a U.S. soldier was killed Saturday night
when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb southeast of Baghdad.

At least 2600 U.S. troops have died as part of the Iraq war since the
conflict began in March 2003.  Iraqi officials have said July was the
deadliest month for Iraqis, with violence claiming the lives of about
3500 civilians.

On Saturday, Mr. Maliki secured an agreement with hundreds of Shi'ite
and Sunni tribal leaders to unite against sectarian violence.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters


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