13 killed in attacks around Iraq, including 9-year-old; Iraqi PM meets main political rival

13 killed in Iraq attacks, including army general

BAGHDAD — A series of bombings and shootings around Iraq Tuesday claimed 13 lives, including four policemen, an Iraqi army general and a 9-year-old girl, Iraqi officials said.

While violence has dropped overall across the country, the attacks underline the continued threat to government employees and members of the security forces, who are often targeted by insurgents trying to destabilize the country.

The four policemen were killed when an explosives-laden car detonated next to a police patrol in the town of Beiji, 155 miles (250 kilometers) north of Baghdad, said Iraqi police officials. A civilian in a nearby vehicle was also killed and at least seven civilians were wounded in that attack.

A brigadier general with the Iraqi army was killed when a bomb attached to his car exploded in Kazimiyah, a primarily Shiite district in northern Baghdad, police and hospital officials said.

In the volatile Diyala province, gunmen shot dead four members of a Sunni family, including a 9-year girl, as the family was walking near their house in the town of Khalis, 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Baghdad, said local police officials.

An official with the Baghdad provincial council, Qahtan Abdul-Hussein, died when a bomb attached to his vehicle went off Tuesday morning as he was driving through a security checkpoint in the mainly Shiite district of Hurriyah in northern Baghdad, the Baghdad provincial council said in a press release.

“Terrorists have killed an official in charge of the social welfare department in Baghdad’s provincial council,” the council said in the statement. “This cowardly terrorist attack will not undermine its (the council’s) employees from carrying out their jobs in serving Baghdad and its people.”

According to the statement, a policeman at the checkpoint was also injured in the incident.

In a separate attack in Beiji, police said gunmen opened fire on an oil truck traveling on a highway just outside the city, killing its driver. Oil-related infrastructure such as pipelines or refineries have often been targeted by insurgents looking to disrupt the flow of oil and hurt Iraq’s oil income.

In the northern city of Mosul, gunmen broke into a house, killing one woman and wounding two others, police and hospital officials said.

Also on Tuesday, officials in southern city of Basra said that a bullet-riddled body of Sabri al-Asadi, a municipal official who missing for two days, was found.

Al-Asadi has criticized political groups thought to have been stirring up anti-government protests over power shortages in Basra last week. The demostrations turned violent and claimed two lives.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

In another development, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki met with his main political rival, Ayad Allawi, Tuesday night in what was widely viewed as an attempt to mend their bitter feud and resolve the country’s political deadlock.

The Tuesday meeting was the second between the two men who are competing to be the next prime minister after the inconclusive March 7 election.

Al-Maliki visited Allawi at his Baghdad office, and the two men shook hands warmly before sitting down to a closed-door meeting. Neither side commented immediately after the session.

Allawi heads the Iraqiya list, which garnered heavy support with Iraq’s minority Sunni community. His list won 91 seats in the parliament to 89 seats for al-Maliki’s list, out of a total of 325.

Since neither won the majority needed to govern outright, the result has been a drawn-out process of political fighting as each side attempts to gather political allies to form a government.

Ali al-Dabbagh, a spokesman for the prime minister, described the meeting as “positive and good” but stressed that no deals were reached.

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Associated Press writer Sameer N. Yacoub contributed to this report.