IED kills 3, wounds 12 in Baghdad

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Three persons on Monday were killed and 12 others were injured in an explosive charge blast in the capital Baghdad, according to a police source. “Today, an improvised explosive device (IED) targeted a vehicle in al-Hamza square, al-Hubaibiya area of eastern Baghdad, killing three persons and wounding 12 others,” the source told IraqiNews.com news agency. Less than 24 hours ago, a bombing ripped through a popular café in al-Doura area, southern Baghdad, killing two persons and wounding 13 others. The blast comes one week before the U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraqi cities, scheduled to take place by the end of this month. On November 27, 2008, the Iraqi Parliament passed a security pact with the United States, known as the Status-of-Forces Agreement (SOFA), 10 days after the Iraqi cabinet approved it with an overwhelming majority. U.S. combat forces are scheduled to leave the Iraqi cities and districts by the end of June within preparations for withdrawal from Iraq by August 2010, to be completed by the end of 2011 commensurate with U.S. President Barack Obama’s plan. SS (S) 1