Iraq to create new security body to quell insurgency

In a move to curb insurgency, Iraq's interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said on Thursday a new security service will be created to help restore stability in the country.

The same day, armed attacks killed at least 13 people and injured scores of others in the country and two foreigners taken hostage in Iraq still awaited their release amid insurgents' demands foreign troops and companies leave.

NEW INTELLIGENCE BODY

The security body represented another step in his government's efforts to tackle violence and insurgency in Iraq.

"We are determined to bring down all the hurdles that stand in the way of our democracy... terrorism will be terminated, God willing," Allawi said.

Allawi also said he will embark on a tour of the Middle East next week to form new relations with neighbors and will also visitthe United States and Britain later this year.

He said he will visit Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Kuwait, and trips are also planned later to Iran, Pakistan and Europe.

Allawi said he received an "invitation to visit the United States" without giving an exact date and will visit Britain after Iraq's National Assembly is formed.

BOMB ATTACKS UNABATED

"Three policemen and seven civilians were killed, while 27 people, seven of them from the police force, were injured," a police officer said.

Near the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 110 km south of Baghdad, a car bomb exploded, killing two people in the car.

Police chased the car after they received a tip that the car was filled with explosives, a police spokesman said.

"The two persons in suspect car found themselves surrounded by the police and detonated the car while they were inside," the spokesman said.

The head of security at Iraq's Foreign Ministry, Idris Karim Ramadan, was killed in an attack on his convoy traveling from Baghdad to Kirkuk. Unidentified gunmen in a grey Opel car fired atthe convoy as it was driving near a town about 130 km north of thecapital, killing him and injuring two others.

Oil pipelines also fell prey to sabotage. Unidentified saboteurs drilled holes into the main oil pipeline in al-Askari district, 20 km southwest of Basrah in southern Iraq, causing pools of oil on both sides of the line, Qatar-based al-Jazeera TV reported.

An oil pipeline serving as export channels between Kirkuk and the Turkish port Ceyhan, caught fire after a suspected sabotage explosion broke out at about 8:40 a.m. (0440 GMT) near Fatha, some90 km west Kirkuk, forcing a temporary export shutdown.

Fire brigades had been called in to fight the blaze and oil output was temporarily shut down.

HOSTAGES WAITING FOR RELEASE

The statement came just an hour after Al-Jazeera showed a video of the captive truck driver, Angelo dela Cruz, who said he was coming home soon and thanks his government for agreeing to withdraw troops from Iraq.

Dela Cruz appeared without wearing the bright orange garment he had worn in previous video clips. Other hostages killed by insurgents had been wearing a similar garment in videos showing their death.

Dela Cruz told his family not to worry about him, saying he had changed clothing, an apparent sign that he is no longer under threat of execution.

"Wait for me, I'm coming back to you," he reportedly said. He also thanked President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for her decision, according to the channel.

De la Cruz, 46, was abducted last week by an Islamic group calling itself the Khaled Ibn al-Walid Brigade, linked to the militant Islamic Army in Iraq. The group demanded the Philippine government withdraw its troops from Iraq quickly.

Al-Jazeera also reported that kidnappers of an Egyptian truck driver gave his Saudi firm 48 hours to leave Iraq or face the execution of the hostage.

"They said they would give another 48 hours in order to be sure(of the company's leaving) before carrying out the execution," al-Jazeera quoted a statement from the National Islamic Resistance assaying.

The Saudi firm, Faisal bin Ali al-Nuheit, said Wednesday it was ready to evacuate Iraq to save the life of its Egyptian employee.

Mohammed Gharabawi, 42, who has worked for the firm for eight years, was abducted while transporting fuel to Iraq about two weeks ago.

Source: Xinhua