18 killed, forensics HQ wrecked in Baghdad car bomb

BAGHDAD — A suicide bomber driving a vehicle packed with explosives blew himself up outside the offices of a major Kurdish party in northern Iraq early Wednesday, the deadliest in a wave of morning attacks that killed at least 31 people across the country.

Saddam Hussein's notorious henchman "Chemical Ali" was executed on Monday, an Iraqi government spokesman said, a sentence carried out around a week after he received a fourth death sentence."The condemned Ali Hassan al-Majid has been executed by hanging until death today," said spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh in a statement.

Dozens of Iraqis on Wednesday gathered at the grave of "Chemical Ali" the notorious cousin and henchman of Saddam Hussein who was executed for gassing thousands of Kurds in 1988, an AFP reporter said.He was buried late Tuesday in the town of Ouja near Tikrit beside six other graves, including those of Saddam's sons Uday and Qusay, and near the marble tomb of Saddam himself.Ali Hassan al-Majid, better known by his macabre nickname, was hanged on Monday for crimes committed during Saddam's reign, including the gassing of around 5,000 Kurds in the northern town of Halabja.

BAGHDAD — A wave of bombings tore through Baghdad on Tuesday morning, killing at least 57 people in a spasm of violence on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion. The attacks show how dangerous and unstable Iraq remains a decade after the war – a country where sectarian violence can explode at any time. And though attacks have ebbed since the peak of the insurgency in 2006 and 2007, tensions simmer and militants remain a potent threat to Iraq’s security forces.

Dozens of Iraqis gathered at the grave of "Chemical Ali" in northern Iraq on Wednesday to praise the cousin and notorious henchman of Saddam Hussein who was executed for gassing thousands of Kurds in 1988."He was one of Ouja's most remarkable men," said Abu Shehab, a 45-year-old man who insisted that Ali Hassan al-Majid, better known by his macabre nickname, had been hanged to appease Iran and the United States."The execution of Majid was done to satisfy the American and Iranian governments, but he will always be one of the icons of Iraq," Shehab told AFP.

A suicide attacker blew up a bomb-filled car at a central Iraqi police headquarters on Thursday, killing two policemen and a female journalist in the third attack on local forces in as many days.A separate roadside bomb in southern Baghdad, meanwhile, killed a Shiite pilgrim as worshippers gathered for Arbaeen commemoration ceremonies, with the latest attacks shattering a relative calm in Iraq following Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's formation of a new government a month ago.

A car bomb and several roadside blasts killed three people and wounded dozens in Baghdad on Wednesday morning, health and security officials said.In the deadliest attack, a vehicle packed with explosives was detonated and quickly followed by a roadside bomb near a bus terminal in the south Baghdad neighbourhood of Bayaa, killing two people.Officials from the ministries of defence and interior, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said more than 20 others were wounded, including 10 members of the Iraqi security forces.

A car bomb exploded as a police patrol passed through the centre of Tikrit, north of Baghdad, on Tuesday, killing at least 11 people, a security official said.Several policemen were among the dead in the attack, which struck at around 9:15 pm (1815 GMT) in the city, hometown of now executed dictator Saddam Hussein, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.