Baghdad Car Blast Kills 7 and Injures 24 (another Marine also dies)

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- A car bomb killed at least seven people on a busy avenue Saturday as Shiite politicians floated a proposal to end the standoff over a new government by having Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari step down - but only if his replacement comes from his own party.

The blast occurred at lunchtime outside an east Baghdad restaurant frequented by police officers, four of whom were among the 24 injured, Sgt. Sabah Mohsen said. All the dead were civilians, police said.

The explosion shattered windows and damaged shops. Firefighters hosed down the debris-littered street as bystanders gawked at charred and windowless vehicles...

The U.S. military announced Saturday that a Marine assigned to 1st Marine Logistics Group died the previous day in a vehicle accident in Anbar province west of Baghdad.

Elsewhere, a roadside bomb exploded Saturday near an Iraqi army patrol in southern Baghdad, killing three soldiers, the army said. A gunfight between insurgents and Iraqi forces at a checkpoint in northwest Baghdad killed at least two civilians, police said. Three other people were killed in separate drive-by shootings in Baghdad, police said....

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