Another pair of bombs explodes in Baghdad
At least 8 are killed. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nouri Maliki says U.S. and Iraqi leaders are deadlocked over whether U.S. troops should be shielded from Iraqi prosecution.
BAGHDAD — For the second time in three days, twin bombs tore through a busy Baghdad street today, killing at least eight people and harking back to a terrorism tactic used when Iraq's sectarian violence was at its height.
Also today, Prime Minister Nouri Maliki issued a tough statement about an agreement that the Iraqi and U.S. governments are negotiating to determine the future of U.S. troops in Iraq.
Maliki, speaking to a meeting of satellite television executives, said it was wrong to assume an agreement was imminent. He said the two sides were deadlocked over two Iraqi demands: that U.S. troops be tried by Iraqi courts under some circumstances, and that all U.S. forces leave Iraq by the end of 2011.
Police said the bombs went off five minutes apart in western Baghdad's Harthiya neighborhood, along a street lined with currency-exchange houses and a private hospital. They put the number of wounded at 20.
On Monday, two bombs went off minutes apart on a busy avenue in eastern Baghdad, killing at least 13 people.
In both cases, the bombs were placed in separate cars, parked on the streets.
Multiple bombs were used frequently by insurgents last year to maximize casualties. Often, one would go off, and the second would explode after people had rushed to the site of the blast.
Such attacks have declined in recent months, and U.S. military officials say violence directed at Iraqi civilians and U.S. and Iraqi security forces is down 80% compared with 18 months ago. They warn, however, that the relative calm is not necessarily permanent.
In the past week, Iraqi police say, 99 people have died in bombings across the country ranging from small roadside explosives that have killed one or two people to car bombs that have killed more than 30 at once.
But the U.S. military is under pressure to reduce the size of its forces here, and Maliki made clear that his government would not budge on the demand that all U.S. troops -- not just combat forces -- leave by the end of 2011.
Maliki also said the question of immunity from prosecution for troops was "the core issue" blocking an agreement, which must be finalized by Dec. 31 to replace the U.N. mandate currently governing American forces in Iraq.
Maliki said he is demanding that American troops be subjected to Iraqi prosecution for crimes or errors committed outside of military operations. Under some circumstances, U.S. forces could also face Iraqi justice for crimes and errors committed during military missions, he said.
"They do not accept this," Maliki said of U.S. officials, who have refused to discuss the negotiations publicly.
Maliki also said Iraq wants American forces out of its cities and confined to bases on their outskirts by June 30, 2009.
U.S. officials have warned against a too-quick withdrawal, something they say could hinder security if Iraqi forces are not ready to take over. Some Iraqis agree.
"Our society has much to fear and worries about the deterioration of security after we've had this breath of fresh air," said Hayder Adel, a high school teacher in eastern Baghdad. "I believe our future is unpredictable and don't want to take any chances of the security vacuum that will occur" if U.S. forces leave.
tina.susman@latimes.com
Special correspondents in Baghdad contributed to this report.
