• Tools:
• Save |
• Print |
• E-mail |
• Most Popular |

Suicide bomber kills 10 Iraqi army recruits

Adjust font size:

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- At least 10 Iraqi army recruits were killed and three civilians wounded when a suicide bomber wearing an explosives vest detonated on board a minibus Monday morning, Iraqi police said.

The attack took place around 10 a.m., just outside the army's Al-Muthana recruiting center in northern Baghdad. The bomber boarded the minibus that is commonly used by recruits going to and from the center.

Iraq's Defense Ministry had a different casualty toll with 12 dead and two wounded.

Meanwhile, a U.S. soldier died Sunday when his patrol was attacked by small-arms fire north of the capital, the U.S. command in Baghdad reported.

The death brought to 2,661 the number of U.S. troops killed in the Iraq war. Seven American civilian contractors of the military also have died in the conflict.

Dispute over federalism

A parliamentary session scheduled for Sunday was postponed for a day after several Iraqi Sunni and secular parliamentarians boycotted the meeting to discuss a draft federalism law.

"Federalism will pave the way for Iraq's division," said Adnan al-Dulaimi, a member of the Iraqi Islamic Party, Iraq's main Sunni political movement.

It is unclear what exactly the draft law calls for, but disagreements over federalism in Iraq are not new. During last year's drafting of Iraq's constitution it was one of the main sticking points that delayed the process and the presentation of the final draft for approval.

Under federalism, Iraq's government would be decentralized and Kurds, Shiites, and Sunni Arabs could have separate autonomous areas. Currently, Kurds have an autonomous region in the north and continue to back such a de-centralized government. Shiite Arabs have voiced support for an autonomous region in the south but have started to come around to the concept of federalism. However, the minority Sunni Arabs overall oppose the federalism that has been proposed for Iraq.

Al-Dulaimi said the lawmakers who participated in the boycott would only accept parliamentary discussions on federalism after constitutional amendments are made.

Other Shiite and Kurdish legislators held a news conference Sunday criticizing the boycott and speaking in favor of adopting a federal system in Iraq. Some lawmakers said federalism would unite the country and noted the system is adopted by many countries, including the United States.

The lawmakers said a vote on the proposed law is scheduled for Sept. 25.

The leaders of the major political blocs decided to postpone the parliamentary session until Monday, according to a spokesman for Iraq's parliament speaker.

However, closed-door meetings "will continue to try and resolve disagreements over the presentation of the federal state law," the spokesman said.

The lawmakers involved in the boycott included members of the Iraqi National List, the National Dialogue List, and the Iraqi Accordance Front.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this report.

Get up-to-the minute news from CNN CNN.com gives you the latest stories and video from the around the world, with in-depth coverage of U.S. news, politics, entertainment, health, crime, tech and more.

---

• Massive icebergs floating towards coast of New Zealand
• Missing teen spent 11 days on NYC subways
• Death toll rises to 52 as Philippines mourns
• Police find ex-royal aide who fled prison
• From Asian pop star to 'Ninja Assassin'

• Irish PM to quit over payments scandal
• NATO chief: Afghan troop increase likely
• Militants hunted as calm retuns to Basra
• Pressure on Bush to skip Olympics
• BA sending misplaced T5 baggage to Milan

• Recruiting suicide bombers (2:50)
• London was lucky (2:36)
• Cars in London rigged as bombs (3:48)
• Second explosives-packed car foun (2:32)
• Soviet culture returns (3:47)