Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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April 18, 2007

Bomb Blasts in Iraqi Capital Kill 127
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=171D123:A6F02AD83191E160FB4F6E759C337F199574F7DCC14957C0 In the latest
attack Wednesday, a car bomb killed at least 82 people in a crowded
Sh'ite marketplace in central Baghdad





Thick smoke billows from the site of an explosion in central Baghdad,
18 Apr 2007

Iraqi security officials say a series of bomb blasts has killed at
least 127 people in Baghdad.

In the latest attack Wednesday, a car bomb killed at least 82 people
in a crowded Sh'ite marketplace in central Baghdad.  A short time
earlier, another car bomb killed 30 people in the Shi'ite neighborhood
of Sadr City.

A suicide bomber killed 10 people in another mainly Shi'ite district,
Karradah.  Another five people were killed in smaller attacks across
the city.

Earlier, the U.S. military said coalition forces killed five
terrorists and detained 30 suspects during an operation in the restive
Al Anbar province, west of Baghdad.

And British troops handed over security control of the southern
province of Maysan to Iraqi forces.  It is the fourth province to come
under full Iraqi security control. 

In other news, The Washington Post newspaper, citing an unnamed Saudi
official, reports the kingdom has decided to write off 80 percent of
the more than $15 billion it is owed by Iraq. 

The newspaper says the Bush administration has been pressing Iraq's
creditors to follow Washington's lead and write off debt.

Iraq's Finance Minister Bayan Jabr, who was in Washington for World
Bank meetings, told the Post that so far, 52 countries have canceled
80 to 100 percent of Iraq's debt.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.


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