IRAQ: A car bomb at Baghdad's police headquarters killed an Iraqi police officer and wounded about 15 others yesterday in a suspected attempt to assassinate the police chief, a key ally of the US-led occupying authorities.
Much of the violence has targeted US forces, who lost two soldiers in a landmine explosion on Monday to take the number killed in action since the official end of major combat to 67.
But Iraqis cooperating with the occupiers are also at risk.
Explosives rigged to a car in a garage next to city police chief Mr Hassan Ali's office caused Tuesday's blast, police said.
One police officer was killed, the US military said, and hospitals reported 15 people had been injured.
Mr Ali is a high-profile figure in US-led efforts to bring security to Iraq and members of the new Iraqi police force are often branded collaborators by opponents of the occupation.
Iraqi police Brig Saeed Muneim said Mr Ali had probably been the target of the blast.
"We were sitting inside, doing paperwork when it went off," said Lieut Col Yahya Ibrahim, bloodstains on his pale blue police shirt and a bandage over a head wound.
"We did not come here to serve any party or person. We are here to serve Iraq."
The latest US soldiers to die were with a military police unit. They were killed and a comrade was wounded when their Humvee vehicle ran over a homemade landmine on a Baghdad supply route on Monday afternoon, the military said.
Meanwhile, there was a mixed reaction in Baghdad yesterday to Monday's appointment of cabinet ministers.
While some applauded the appointments because many of the ministers have been educated abroad, others questioned how they could help ease the suffering of ordinary Iraqis after living in luxury in exile.
The US-backed Governing Council named the cabinet of 25 ministers, most of them little-known.
Overall authority will remain with US governor Mr Paul Bremer until an elected government is installed.
"It is a very good choice," Jumaa Sarhan, a newspaper seller in central Baghdad, said.
"Almost all members of the new cabinet are holders of degrees and some were educated outside the country so they must be qualified for the job."
However, some Iraqis predicted the new cabinet would fail because the majority of its members had been living in exile and knew nothing about the country. They said the new ministers could not adequately understand the hardships of those who endured life under Saddam.
"How can these people serve us while they were living luxurious life abroad and we were suffering from the embargo?" Ali Salim, a taxi driver, said. - (Reuters)