News Summary-April 3, 2010

BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Following is a summary of news reports posted until 04:00 p.m. Baghdad local time Saturday – April 3:


* Politics:


BAGHDAD - A leading member of Iyad Allawi’s al-Iraqiya bloc said that the federal court’s recent interpretation regarding the constitutional phrase of “the largest bloc” has complicated the formation of a new government.


* Security:


BAGHDAD - Twenty-four civilians were killed in an attack waged by gunmen on a village in Hawr Rajab area, the south Baghdad district of al-Mahmoudiya, according to a senior security official on Saturday.

KIRKUK - Two children were killed and two others wounded when an explosive charge went off southwest of Kirkuk city on Saturday, according to a senior security official.

ANBAR - A leading member of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) group in a security operation in eastern al-Falluja city on Saturday, a local police source in al-Anbar said.

BABEL - Seven civilians were wounded in an improvised explosive device attack that targeted a passenger bus north of al-Hilla city on Saturday, a local police source in Babel said.

BAGHDAD - The Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) condemned the Hawr Rajab “carnage” that claimed the lives of more than 20 people, warning of a “relapse into a time when killing and forced displacement were running rampant in the nation”.

KIRKUK - Two people, one of them a policeman, were wounded in an improvised explosive device blast southwest of Kirkuk on Saturday, a senior security official in the city said.


* Economy:


BAGHDAD - The Iraqi Banking League on Saturday urged private banks to launch mergers so as to build giant capital and enhance their performance.

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