SAMARRA, April 1: Guerillas gunned down an Iraqi police chief in the tense town of Baladruz, northeast of Baghdad, on Thursday night. Colonel Hatem Rashid was killed in the latest assassination of top army and police officers. In the restive city of Samarra, five guerillas were killed in clashes with occupation forces, Major General Rashid Flaih of the Iraqi police commandos said, adding that 12 fighters were captured and weapons seized. The local hospital said it had received five bodies.

GOVT TALKS: Amid the continuing violence, Iraq’s main political blocs were still far from forming a government two months after landmark elections. The main stumbling block is a desire by Shias and Kurds alike to include the embittered Sunni community, which largely boycotted the elections.