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Car Bomb Blast in Baghdad Kills 8 as Iran's Foreign Minister Arrives
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=125F3D9:3919ACA Latest incident
comes as newly installed government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
struggles to fill posts of defense and interior ministers





A woman screaming that she has lost three sons arrives at al-Kindi
hospital after a roadside bomb placed under a car exploded in an
outdoor market in the Nahda area of Baghdad, Friday, May 26, 2006



Iraqi police say a car bomb explosion in Baghdad Friday killed at
least eight people and wounded more than 30 others.

The latest incident comes as Iraq's newly installed government
struggles to fill the key security posts of defense and interior
ministers.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said Iraqi forces will be able to
take control of security around the country within a year-and-a-half.

In other news, Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, visiting
Baghdad Friday, said Tehran has decided not to have direct talks with
Washington over the situation in Iraq.

Mottaki accused the U.S. of using the proposed meeting for propaganda,
and of raising other issues besides Iraq.

The U.S. has expressed interest in speaking to Iran about the
sectarian struggle in Iraq, not about the standoff over Tehran's
nuclear activities.

The U.S. has acknowledged that Iran can have a positive impact on the
internal situation in Iraq because of its influence with Iraqi
Shi'ites. Mottaki's visit to Baghdad is the first by a senior Iranian
official in almost a year.

In another development, the commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps,
General Michael Hagee, is preparing to address his forces in Iraq to
re-inforce the ideals, values and standards of U.S. Marines.

The U.S. military is investigating allegations that Marines have
killed at least 16 Iraqi civilians in two separate incidents in
Haditha in November and in Hamandiyah last month.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.