January 03, 2009	Saturday	Muharram 05, 1430

BAGHDAD, Jan 2: A suicide bomber killed at least 23 people and wounded 72 on Friday at a gathering of Sunni Arab tribal leaders for a lunch in a town south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, security spokesman Major-General Qassim Moussawi said.

The bombing took place a day after the United States presence in Iraq officially came under an Iraqi government mandate for the first time, according to a bilateral security pact.

The US military said its initial reports indicated 21 people were killed. An Iraqi security source said as many as 30 people died and more than 100 others were hurt.

Moussawi said 72 people were wounded, some seriously.

He said Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah Salih, a Sunni leader of the Al Qaraghouli tribe, hosted the lunch at his home on the outskirts of Yusufiya, 20km south of Baghdad.

The bomber, a relative of the host named Amin Al Qaraghouli, entered through the rear gate of the house and blew himself among the guests, Moussawi said.

The sheikh was among the wounded.

Violence has dropped sharply in Iraq from the peak of sectarian bloodshed in 2006 and 2007, but suicide bombers and gunmen still regularly stage attacks.

In the biggest recent attack, a suicide bomber killed around 50 people at a packed restaurant near the northern city of Kirkuk on Dec 11. An attack in Baghdad last week killed at least 25 people.

SHOOTING IN MOSUL: Sunni Arab militants have frequently targeted tribal gatherings since many tribes turned against insurgents.Almost six years after the US-led invasion, more than 140,000 US troops in Iraq are gradually reducing their activities ahead of an end-2011 departure deadline.

US forces handed over control of the Green Zone, the fortified swathe of central Baghdad that was the heart of US power in Iraq since 2003, to Iraqi forces on Thursday. Combat troops are supposed to leave Iraqi towns and cities by mid-2009.

But the United States is still providing major military, administrative and financial backing to Iraq.

Britain on Thursday formally handed over responsibility for the running of Basra airport to Iraqi authorities, a move that paves the way for Britain to withdraw from Iraq. US and Iraqi officials fear violence could flare anew ahead of provincial elections on Jan 31 that promise to alter the delicate balance of power across Iraq.

In the northern city of Mosul, feuds between Arabs and Kurds are threatening to reignite tensions. The UN Mission to Iraq on Thursday condemned assassinations and army raids carried out against electoral candidates in Mosul in the past month.

Gunmen walked into a cafe in Mosul and shot dead Mowaffaq Al Hamdani, a member of the Sunni Arab bloc, on Wednesday.

Shia parties across Iraq’s south are jockeying for influence, while established Sunni political parties risk losing ground to new movements linked to tribal guard units that have helped curb violence and rout Al Qaeda militants.—Reuters