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Obama: Time to Form Iraqi Govt. 'Without Delay'

   VOA News 22 July 2010

   U.S.  President Barack Obama on Thursday urged Iraqi leaders to form a
   government  "without  delay"  to end the political deadlock in Baghdad
   following March parliamentary elections.
   Mr.  Obama made the comment in a meeting with U.S. ambassador to Iraq,
   Christopher  Hill and the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, General
   Ray Odierno, at the White House.
   President Obama also voiced concern about a rocket attack on Baghdad's
   heavily-fortified  Green  Zone that killed three people and wounded 15
   others. Â
   The  U.S. embassy in Iraq said those killed in the attack included two
   Ugandans and a Peruvian, working for an American security contractor.
   The  Green  Zone  is home to Iraqi government buildings as well as the
   U.S. embassy.
   In  other  violence  Thursday,  gunmen  killed  at  least  two people,
   including  a  Sunni cleric, in separate attacks in  the northern city
   of Mosul.
   Meanwhile,  Iraq's  justice  minister,  Dara  Noureddin, said four men
   awaiting trial on terrorism charges escaped from a Baghdad prison that
   the U.S. handed over to Iraqi control last week.
   Authorities  say  the men were discovered missing Tuesday along with a
   prison official.

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

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