Seventeen people, including 13 Iraqis and four Westerners, have been killed in a suicide bomb attack in central Baghdad, police say. More than 33 were injured in the explosion targeting an armoured convoy used by Western contractors in Tahrir Square - a busy shopping area.
Police said they believed four bodies taken from a charred vehicle were those of American security contractors.
The attack came hours before a reported deal to complete the new Iraqi cabinet.
Insurgents have killed at least 250 people since the formation of Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari's cabinet last month.
Mr Jaafari has been struggling to bring Sunnis into his government and take the sting out of the insurgency.
According to unnamed sources, the latest agreement would see Saadoun al-Dulaimi, a Sunni Arab, as defence minister with Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum, a Shia, filling the oil ministry portfolio.
Easy target
Saturday's attack at 1105 (0705GMT) sent a large plume of black smoke into the sky as ambulances converged on the scene, one of the capital's busiest intersections.
Television footage showed the remains of several bodies lying in Tahrir Square.
Some of the wounded were girls from a nearby school.
Foreign officials and security contractors move around Baghdad in convoys of four-wheel-drive vehicles accompanied by armed guards.
They have often been targeted by insurgents.
But Iraqi police and army recruits have also been coming under more attacks, says the BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad.
Iraqi civilians have also been deliberately targeted and the Americans have also lost at least 15 soldiers killed in the latest wave of violence, our correspondent says.
On Friday, at least 16 people were killed in a car bomb attack in a market south of Baghdad.
At least 23 people were killed in suicide bombings and gun attacks on police and army targets in Baghdad on Thursday.
On Wednesday, at least 50 were killed in an attack on police recruits in Irbil. BBC NEWS
Sister you are correct. It is a sin to kill women, children and non-combatants.
Most people who think this is great have not seen war.
Exactly, and people who think that it is great have not even thought about the consequences of the outcome of wars which they need to take a hard look at.
bismillah hirahman niraheem
with all respect, it could be a possibility that brother hash was saying allahu akbar with the intention of actually meaning allah is the great.
in the same sence we say subhanallah when we see something sad and we say subhanallah when we see something good.
war, to me is such a cruel thing.....children pay for the consequences....
allah knows best
:rose: A Rose Protects Its Beauty With Thorns, A Woman Protects Hers With A Veil
i was thinking about the long term damage it has on kids, i read a story of a child who could not go to sleep because of the sound of gunshots, who was afraid to go to sleep incase the little family he had were taken away from him...
:rose: A Rose Protects Its Beauty With Thorns, A Woman Protects Hers With A Veil
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