Truck bomb destroys key bridge in western Iraq

A suicide bomber driving a dynamite-laden truck destroyed a key bridge Saturday on a highway used by the departing U.S. military, while separate attacks killed nine Iraqis, most of them security force members, police said.

There were no casualties in the blast that destroyed the bridge outside the city of Ramadi, which is about 70 miles (125 kilometers) west of Baghdad, said a local police officer. The highway is used heavily by the U.S. military to transport equipment out of the country, and is also a major roadway for civilian traffic.

The highway links Iraq to neighboring Syria and Jordan, where many Iraqis fled to escape sectarian violence.

Also Saturday, an attack on an Iraqi army convoy just outside of the city of Fallujah killed four Iraqi soldiers and wounded 14, said a police officer in the city, which is about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to journalists.

A U.S. military spokesman in Iraq's western Anbar province, where both Ramadi and Fallujah are located, confirmed Saturday's explosion on the highway bridge, which was close to two Iraqi military bases that host U.S. troops in the area.

Lt. Col. Curtis L. Hill said U.S. forces have "previously used the bridge," but he would not say what impact its destruction might have on U.S. military convoys transporting equipment out of Iraq to meet President Barack Obama's deadline for a complete pullout of combat troops by August 2010.

The Anbar provincial police commander, Maj. Gen. Tariq Yousif Mohammed, told The Associated Press that he believed the blast was aimed at Iraqis. Traffic in and around Ramadi was backed up after the early morning explosion.

"I don't think the Americans were targeted by the blast," he said.

Western Anbar province was once a hotbed of Iraq's Sunni-dominated insurgency and the scene of some of the most intense U.S. fighting with militants. Violence subsided significantly after local tribes decided to align themselves with U.S. forces instead of al-Qaida.

Attacks have not been halted entirely. Last Sunday, 19 people were killed in a spate of coordinated car bombings across Ramadi, Anbar's provincial capital, sparking fears of a reinvigorated insurgency that could destabilize Iraq before January's crucial parliamentary elections.

The recent violence is sure to be on the agenda when Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki travels to the United States. The prime minister will fly to the U.S. on Sunday morning, said an aide to the prime minister, Yasin Majeed.

The trip is designed to coincide with an investor conference being held in Washington D.C. that aims to drum up interest in Iraq's still fragile economy. But al-Maliki will also meet with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, the president's point person on Iraq, said the prime minister's aide.

The trip also comes as Iraq's parliament is expected to discuss key legislation relating to the January elections. U.S. officials are worried that if the legislation is not passed in time, it could push back the vote and possibly destabilize the country at a time when American forces are drawing down.

Al-Maliki's popularity has been linked to the dramatic drop in violence in recent years, but attacks around the country Saturday highlighted the fragile nature of Iraq's security gains.

On Saturday, attackers threw hand grenades at an Iraqi army patrol near Kirkuk, 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of Baghdad, killing two civilians and wounding two others, a police official in the oil-rich city said.

In Mosul, 225 miles (360 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad, 2 policemen and one civilian were killed in three unrelated incidents, police said. Both police officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Meanwhile, Britain's Home office said Saturday that 30 Iraqis who had failed to get asylum in the U.K. and were sent back to Iraq were not allowed to remain in Iraq after landing in Baghdad on Thursday, while an additional 10 were allowed to disembark.

An official at Baghdad airport denied Britain's claim, saying the roughly 30 passengers who returned to the U.K. were minority Kurds who were too afraid to remain in Iraq. The 10 Iraqis who remained were Arabs, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

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Associated Press Writer Qassim Abdul-Zahra contributed to this report.