Army recruits again hit by bombs

A police officer salutes as a young survivor of a bombing attack holds up the national flag in Tahrir Square in central Baghdad yesterday, as Iraqis observed a three minutes silence for victims of last weeks bombings in Baghdad and in the southern town of Al-Musayyib. Children from New Baghdad who came to this square, lost friends a week ago in an attack that left 32 children dead when a suicide bomber blew himself up as US soldiers handed out chocolates in the street. PHOTO: AFP

At least 26 would-be recruits were also wounded in the 9:30 am (0530 GMT) attack outside the main gate at the Muthanna recruitment center, an interior ministry official said.

The blast came 10 days after another suicide bomber killed at least 21 would-be recruits waiting at the same gate.

The Muthanna base, a former airfield, has been attacked more than six times over the past months.

Earlier Wednesday, two car bombs were reported in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, with at least two wounded, the official said.

Iraq is reeling under a blitz of bombings that have killed at least 200 and wounded hundreds more over the past week.

Meanwhile several Sunni Arab members of the team drafting Iraq's new constitution have suspended their membership following the assassination of two of their colleagues, a spokesman said on Wednesday.

The suspension could complicate the task of drafting the charter by a mid-August deadline.

Salih al-Mutlaq, spokesman for the Iraqi National Dialogue, a Sunni Arab umbrella group, said four of its members on the drafting committee had suspended their membership. Two National Dialogue members also on the team were killed on Tuesday.

"The environment in Iraq isn't right for anyone to get work done," Mutlaq told Reuters when asked why the action had been taken.

Another official on the committee said all 15 Sunni Arab members of the 71-member body had suspended their membership, but that could not immediately be confirmed.

The constitution drafting committee was due to hold a news conference later on Wednesday to lay out the progress made so far in drawing up the document.

Hours before Tuesday's killings, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said he hoped the draft constitution could be ready early -- by the end of this month -- if Sunni concerns could be quickly addressed.

Fifteen Sunni members joined the committee last month, making it the first nationwide political body to include significant Sunni Arab representation since the new government, led by Shias and Kurds, took office in April.