IRAQ:More than 80 people were killed and 150 wounded in Kirkuk, northern Iraq, yesterday as debate over a US exit plan intensified in Washington.
That debate was further complicated by a claim by the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, that Iraqi security forces were ready to take over and the US could leave whenever it wanted.
In a co-ordinated attack, insurgents exploded three bombs in Kirkuk, the biggest of which was an explosives-filled truck detonated by a suicide bomber. Many of the casualties were on a bus close to the truck.
The attacks resulted in one of the highest death tolls this year and the highest in Kirkuk since the invasion in 2003. One of the bombs exploded near the offices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the party of the Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani. Police brigadier Burhan Tayeb Taha said it killed at least 80 people.
A second bomb exploded in a nearby market, but there were no fatalities as the area had been cleared after the first blast. A third, in the south of the city, killed a police officer and injured six others. Earlier this month, in Armili village, near Tuz Khurmatu town, 50 miles south of Kirkuk, more than 130 people were killed in a blast.
Kirkuk is a volatile city, populated by Kurds and Arabs at odds over the distribution of revenue from nearby oil fields.
The attack came as Mr Maliki sparked consternation in Washington by saying Iraqi forces were ready to take over responsibility for security and the US could leave "whenever they want". That is not helpful to Mr Bush, who claims a premature departure would produce more bloodshed.
Mr Maliki backtracked yesterday, saying he needed US support until the end of the year and that talks on withdrawal could begin in January. He is struggling to avoid being voted out of office and his claim may be aimed at placating Shia Muslim politicians who want the US to leave.
Lee Hamilton, the co-chairman of the independent Iraq Study Group, which set out an exit plan which Mr Bush rejected, said: "There is no chance that the Iraqi forces could take over at any time, or certainly by the first of the year."
In the US Congress, the Democrats are pressing for a Bill setting an April deadline for US withdrawal. Republican dissidents are putting forward an alternative plan for troops to switch from a mainly combat role to a mainly training one. Mr Bush is opposed to both.
In a separate development, the United Nations agency Unicef said the plight of children in Iraq had deteriorated over the past year and was in some ways worse than when Saddam Hussein was in power.