Deadly blasts come as new Iraqi government is named

By Katarina Kratovac
The Associated Press

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A series of explosions rolled across Baghdad even as a new, post-occupation government for Iraq was announced, with Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer, a critic of the U.S.-led occupation, named as president.

In the largest blast, a car bomb exploded outside the offices of the pro-American Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, near the headquarters of the U.S.-run coalition, killing three and wounding 20.

The explosion sent a cloud of dust and debris rising over the Green Zone. U.S. jets and Army helicopters roared over the city.

The blast ripped through the building in the early afternoon, only a half-hour after about 400 people left a party celebrating the 29th anniversary of the founding of the PUK, whose militia fought alongside American soldiers in the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein last year.

Party leader Jalal Talabani was not in the office when the blast occurred, a party spokesman said.

Outside the capital, a roadside bomb exploded near a U.S. military base, killing 11 Iraqis and wounding 23, near Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad. Two 1st Infantry Division soldiers were also wounded, the military said.

U.S. officials say insurgents will step up attacks in the days leading to the June 30 transfer of sovereignty from the U.S.-led occupation authority to the interim Iraqi government.

American troops fought Shiite militiamen loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in the Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad's Sadr City and in Kufa, where Shiite leaders have been struggling to save a shaky cease-fire.

In Sadr City, militiamen fired rocket-propelled grenades at U.S. soldiers in sporadic clashes that reverberated along the winding alleys. It was not known if anyone was hurt in the exchanges.

CNN, which has an embedded journalist with U.S. soldiers in Najaf, said fighting in the twin city of Kufa broke out late yesterday afternoon when an American patrol took fire in the southern part of the city. There were no U.S. casualties, CNN said.
 
The U.S.-appointed governor, Adnan al-Zurufi, said coalition authorities proposed al-Sadr's militia withdraw from Najaf over a 72-hour period.

In return, American troops would stay away from Shiite holy sites in Najaf and Kufa — the scene of sharp clashes between U.S. and militia forces since al-Sadr launched an uprising in early April. Ahmad al-Shibani, an official from al-Sadr's office in Najaf, said al-Sadr's movement is likely to have objections. He said he didn't know whether the militia would agree to joint Iraqi-U.S. patrols or to give up their arms.

Later yesterday, witnesses reported an oil fire at the main pump line leading north from Beiji, near the town of Sherqat, some 160 miles north of Baghdad. It was unclear what caused the fire. Iraq's pipelines are often targeted in attacks.

Associated Press correspondents Scheherezade Faramarzi in Baghdad and Mariam Fam in Najaf contributed to this report.