28 Dead in Suicide Bombing in Iraq's Diyala Province
By VOA News
26 August 2008
Police in Iraq say a suicide bomber has killed at least 28 people in the town of Jalula, in violent Diyala province.
Authorities say a bomber, wearing an explosive vest, drove up to a police recruitment station Tuesday and was stopped there. Police say he leapt from his vehicle and ran into a crowd of people, where he blew himself up.
At least 40 people were wounded. Authorities said many of the dead were Iraqis hoping to join the police.
In Tikrit, four people - including policemen - died in a car bomb explosion. Police say the explosion took place near a government office.
On Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told a group of tribal leaders in Baghdad that U.S. and Iraqi negotiators have agreed that all foreign troops should leave Iraq by the end of 2011. He told them that a security deal with the United States must include a specific withdrawal date, not an open one.
The Iraqi prime minister also said he opposes a U.S. demand that American troops should have full immunity from Iraqi law.
U.S. officials say there is no final agreement on a timeline for withdrawing troops.
White House spokesman Tony Fratto said negotiations are continuing, and he reiterated the U.S. position that troop withdrawals should be linked to conditions in Iraq.
In other developments, Iraqi authorities released footage of a teenage girl detained Sunday for wearing a suicide bomb vest in the eastern province of Diyala.
The video shows police interrogating the girl, thought to be about 14 years old, and her mother on Monday. Both denied involvement in a suicide bomb plot and said they have no connection to al-Qaida.
U.S. and Iraqi officials have said al-Qaida is increasingly recruiting women and girls to carry out suicide bombings. Cultural taboos prevent Iraqi policemen from carrying out body searches on women.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
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