BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- She's been called the "mother of the believers," a middle-aged woman possibly responsible for recruiting more than 80 female suicide bombers in Iraq and involvement in at least 28 terrorist operations.

Television picture reportedly showing Samira Ahmed Jassim during her alleged confession.

Now she's in jail, arrested on January 21 in what an Iraqi commander called "heroic" security force operations that unfolded without "any losses."

Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, spokesman for the Baghdad command, identified the suspect as Samira Ahmed Jassim, also known as Umm-al-Moumineen, or "the mother of the believers." The arrest is considered a major stride in confronting the challenge of female suicide bombers, more than 30 of whom detonated themselves last year.

Atta couldn't say where she was detained for intelligence reasons. That's because the authorities are after more targets.

The bombers were recruited in Baghdad and Diyala province for the Ansar al-Sunna militant group, said Atta, who added police were aware of the identities of the women, including their fake names on fake IDs, and were on the hunt for them. They said they were also trying to verify Jassim's confessions.

Atta played a DVD for reporters with excerpts of the confessions of Jassim, who is in her 40s or 50s. Wearing a black robe and veil, she said she was asked by a man named "Shaker" to recruit women for an Ansar al-Sunna operative named Hareth, also known as Abu Rami.

She spoke about a number of the women she recruited, spending days talking to prospective operatives and persuading them to carry out attacks.

Jassim said she would deliver a recruit to Shaker.

Later, she returned and picked up the recruit, dropping them at locations like the Muqdadiya police station, a Sons of Iraq office and a Baghdad car park.

One woman she recruited didn't even look at Jassim when she was picked up for a job. She just whispered Quranic verses en route to a bombing. Another woman -- described as psychologically challenged -- came from a financially hard-up family.

In November, 18 would-be female suicide bombers turned themselves in to coalition forces in northern Iraq.

The women, whose ages and names were not released by the military, gave themselves up after being persuaded by religious leaders and family members to "cease their training in suicide operations and reconcile," the U.S. military said.

The women were connected to al Qaeda in Iraq suicide bombing cells, but it was not clear where they had been training or operating. The statement also did not say where the women turned themselves in, though the northern city of Mosul and surrounding parts of northern Iraq are still a hotbed for insurgent activity and considered the last stronghold for al Qaeda in Iraq.

Troops have launched operations targeting members of families of suspected female bombers trying to break up the rings that are recruiting the women and girls.

Intelligence gathered from detainees indicates that al Qaeda in Iraq is looking for women with three main characteristics: those who are illiterate, are deeply religious or have financial struggles, most likely because they've lost the male head of the household.

Females always have played a role in the insurgency in Iraq, helping feed militants, hiding them in their homes and helping to sneak weapons around the country.

They have proven to be highly effective in their operations, because of the cultural convention that women are not to be searched by men for cultural and religious reasons. The U.S. military has created a program called the Daughters of Iraq, analogous to U.S. backed Sons of Iraq, to conduct searches of women.

What is Jassim also known as?
Who are troops targeting?
What have troops launched?
Who was arrested on Jan 21
What is Jassim known as?
When was she arrested?

Answer: Umm-al-Moumineen, or "the mother of the believers."

Answer: members of families of suspected female bombers

Answer: operations targeting members of families of suspected female bombers trying to break up the rings that are recruiting the women and girls.

Answer: Samira Ahmed Jassim

Answer: Umm-al-Moumineen, or "the mother of the believers."

Answer: January 21

Summary:
Jassim also known as Umm-al-Moumineen, or mother of the believers .
Arrested on Jan. 21 in what an Iraqi commander called "heroic" security operation .
Considered a major stride in confronting challenge of female suicide bombers .
Troops have launched operations targeting families of suspected bombers .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Six U.S. soldiers were killed Wednesday in Iraq when a bomb exploded in a booby-trapped house while they were on patrol north of Baghdad, the military announced.

U.S. soldiers conduct a house-to-house assessment mission in Baghdad on Wednesday.

Four soldiers were also wounded in the attack and evacuated to a coalition forces hospital, Multi-National Corps-Iraq said.

The troops were taking part in Operation Iron Harvest -- a new drive against Islamic militants in northern Iraq after a spate of attacks on local anti-insurgent groups.

The operation is part of a nationwide push against jihadists loyal to al Qaeda in the provinces of Diyala, Salaheddin, Nineveh, and Tameem.

"It will be a difficult fight, but we will continue to execute simultaneous operations in each one of our four provinces," said Maj. Gen. Michael Hertling, commander of U.S. troops in northern Iraq.

But resistance in the "breadbasket" region in eastern Diyala so far is "less than anticipated," he said.

The offensive -- which has been centered near Muqdadiya -- has left 20 to 30 suspected insurgents dead in the area around that city, Hertling said. About 24,000 U.S. troops, 50,000 Iraqi soldiers and 80,000 local police are based in the region.

In addition, about 15,000 Iraqis are taking part in anti-insurgent groups known as Concerned Local Citizens or Awakening Councils. The groups will perform defensive security tasks during the operation, the U.S. military said.

The new push comes just short of a year since President Bush ordered almost 30,000 additional troops to Iraq to secure Baghdad and its surrounding provinces.

Al Qaeda in Iraq has been deeply rooted in Muqdadiya, about 62 miles north of Baghdad, since about 2004.

Wednesday's deaths occurred in an agricultural area on the north side of the Diyala River from the city.

The U.S. military has conducted operations there in the past and has frequently come under fire. One recent operation ended with several insurgents killed and a large amount of weapons and explosives seized, a military source told CNN.

The bombing Wednesday was the first incident involving multiple deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq since September 10, when seven Multi-National Division-Baghdad soldiers died and 11 were injured in a vehicle accident in western Baghdad.

The last attack in which so many U.S. troops died from hostile action happened May 28, when six Task Force Lightning soldiers were killed by explosions near their vehicles during operations in Diyala province.

Awakening Councils

Iraq's concerned-citizens groups began forming in the country's predominantly Sunni Arab regions in late 2006, and their cooperation with U.S. forces against the jihadists has been credited with much of the decline in violence in Iraq since summer.

But that cooperation has made them an increasing target for al Qaeda in Iraq, which Hertling said has launched a campaign of intimidation against the locals.

Monday, five severed heads were left on a road leading to Baquba "with Arabic writing in blood on the forehead which said, 'Join the Concerned Citizens and you will end up like this,' " Hertling said.

And he played video from an aerial surveillance drone that showed three people in Diyala assassinating another person -- pulling the victim from a vehicle, shooting him and leaving him in a ditch. They were eventually captured, and information was found linking them to al Qaeda in Iraq, he said.

Hertling said that even though there has been a reduction in attacks across the country, there has been an increase in "high-profile, spectacular" events in his region, citing a suicide vest attack and a bridge bombing that sparked media attention and made the region look as if it were "reeling."

But he said attacks like those will prove to be the jihadists' "Achilles' heel," turning the population against them and driving them toward the concerned citizens' groups.

"It's sort of a reverse counterintuitive logic," Hertling said. "They are trying to intimidate people that join them by killing them, and it's causing more people to go against them."

where Six soldiers die when bomb explodes in booby-trapped house?

The blast left how many U.S soldiers wounded?

Answer: Six

Answer: Iraq

Answer: Four

Answer: Six U.S. soldiers

Answer: a new drive against Islamic militants in northern Iraq

Summary:
NEW: Troops were taking part in new offensive, dubbed Operation Iron Harvest .
Six soldiers die when bomb explodes in booby-trapped house .
Blast also leaves 4 U.S. soldiers wounded .
It's the first incident involving multiple deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq since September .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Six U.S. troops were killed in Iraq on Monday, making 2007 the deadliest for the American military in the Iraq war. The grim record came despite lower death rates in recent months, which were not enough to offset death tolls that topped 100 during three months in the spring. Four soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in northern Iraq's Tameem province; another died in combat in Anbar province. A sailor was killed in Salaheddin province "as a result of injuries sustained from an explosion while conducting operations," the military said. According to a CNN count of Pentagon figures, 853 U.S. service members have died so far in 2007. The next highest death toll was in 2004, when 849 were killed. The total number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq stands at 3,856, including seven civilian contractors of the Defense Department. The high number of deaths this year corresponds with the U.S. troop buildup called the "surge" and a crackdown on insurgents in and near Baghdad. Monthly death tolls were highest in the first part of the year: 83 deaths in January, 81 in February and 81 in March. Numbers peaked in the next three months, with 104 deaths in April, 126 in May and 101 in June. The numbers have dropped from that level since -- with 78 in July, 84 in August, 65 in September, 38 in October and 12 so far in November. Civilian deaths have also dropped in recent months, U.S. and Iraqi authorities say. The Iraq war began in March of 2003 and in that year there were 486 U.S. military deaths. In 2004, major offensives were responsible for many fatalities, including the massive operation in Falluja in November and fighting between U.S. troops and Shiite militants in Najaf. The number of deaths in 2005 was 846 and in 2006 it was 822. The U.S. military also announced on Tuesday that it intends to release nine detained Iranians in Iraq "in the coming days," a move that dovetails with the American hope that Iranian authorities are honoring a recent pledge to stop Iranian help to insurgents in Iraq. "These individuals have been assessed to have no continuing value" and don't pose a "further threat" to Iraqi security, said Rear Adm. Gregory Smith. Two of them are from the "Irbil 5" detained in January. Irbil is the largest city in the Kurdish area of Iraq. The U.S. military had accused the five Iranians arrested in Irbil of having links to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard-Quds Force, a military unit accused of aiding insurgent activity -- including the distribution of roadside bombs. Smith said Tuesday that materials for roadside bombs "do not appear to have arrived into Iraq after the Iranians have made their pledge to stop arming, funding and training extremists." "We hope in the coming weeks and months to confirm that Iran has indeed honored its pledge through further verification that the flow of ammunitions and other lethal aid has indeed stopped," said Smith, who noted that Iran, Iraq and the United States plan to hold another round of security talks. Last month, Gen. David Petraeus, the top-ranking U.S. military official in Iraq, told CNN the Iranian ambassador had given assurances to his Iraqi counterpart that such training and supplying of insurgents would end. Meanwhile, a Kurdistan Regional Government official on Tuesday confirmed to CNN that two Iranian consulates had been established in the region, offices created in the wake of the arrests in Irbil. At the time of the arrests, Iran insisted the arrested officials were "diplomats" working in a diplomatic mission, while Iraq's Foreign Ministry and the U.S. military said it was a "liaison" office which did not have diplomatic status. One of the new consulates is in a building in Irbil that had been closed down during the January raid, the Kurdistan official said. Also Tuesday, the U.S. military reported that U.S. and Iraqi troops found 22 corpses buried in Iraq's Lake Tharthar region. The Iraqi Army and local security forces "are investigating the mass grave to determine the

When were the detainees released?
what does US stand for?
What is the death toll?
Who are going to be released?
Bodies were found where?
When did the Sailor die?
What did they find in a mass grave?

Answer: "in the coming days,"

Answer: United States

Answer: 853 U.S. service members

Answer: nine detained Iranians in Iraq

Answer: buried in Iraq's Lake Tharthar region.

Answer: 2007

Answer: 22 corpses

Summary:
NEW: Sailor's death brings Monday's U.S. death toll in Iraq to six .
U.S. military says nine detained Iranians to be released in "coming days"
U.S. and Iraqi troops find 22 bodies in mass grave .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Six gay men were shot dead by members of their tribe in two separate incidents in the past 10 days, an official with Iraq's Interior ministry said. In the most recent attack, two men were killed Thursday in Sadr City area of Baghdad after they were disowned by relatives, the official said. The shootings came after a tribal meeting was held and the members decided to go after the victims. On March 26, four additional men were fatally shot in the same city, the official said, adding that the victims had also been disowned by their relatives. The official declined to be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the media. Witnesses told CNN that a Sadr City cafe, which was a popular gathering spot for gays, was also set on fire.

What is the name of the city?
When were the two men killed?
What did witnesses tell CNN?
What was set on fire?
What did the shootings come after?
What way were the men killed?

Answer: Sadr

Answer: Thursday

Answer: that a Sadr City cafe, which was a popular gathering spot for gays, was also set on fire.

Answer: a Sadr City cafe,

Answer: a tribal meeting was held

Answer: shot dead by members of their tribe in two separate incidents

Summary:
In the most recent attack, two men were killed Thursday in Sadr City area of Baghdad .
Witnesses tell CNN a Sadr City cafe, also popular with gay men, was set on fire .
Shootings came after tribal meeting when members decided to go after the victims .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Suicide bombers killed 60 people near a holy Shiite shrine in Baghdad on Friday and a car bomber left seven people dead in Diyala, according to security and medical officials.

A little girl whose parents are missing in the Baghdad bombings Friday rests in a hospital.

Along with the 60 dead, many of whom were Iranian pilgrims, at least 125 others were wounded when two female suicide bombers struck on roads leading to the Imam Musa al-Kadhim shrine, one of the holiest in Shiite Islam, the Interior Ministry said.

The Iranians who were killed and wounded were on a pilgrimage to holy sites in Iraq, an Interior Ministry official said.

The bombers hit the Kadhimiya neighborhood of Baghdad, where the shrine is located, on the Muslim day of prayer. Iraqi State TV reported that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has ordered an investigation.

The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. Raymond Odierno, told CNN's "American Morning" on Friday he believes Iraqis won't be "intimidated by the attack" and "they will not let this stand in their way of moving forward."  Watch the scene at the hospital as victims of the shrine attacks arrive »

Later on Friday, a suicide car bomber detonated explosives in Diyala province, killing at least seven people and wounding 29 others.

The bomber attacked a car dealership in Jawlawla, a town that has been the center of a territorial dispute between the central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Fridays attacks follow the deadliest day in Iraq this year, in which 87 people were killed in attacks, after months of plummeting violence.

Many of the dead on Thursday were also Shiite pilgrims from Iran. Friday's bombings were the third attack on Kadhimiya this month.

Reaction was swift in predominantly Shiite Iran. The media reported that Reza Moussavi, spokesman of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, announced a ban on Iranians crossing into Iraq via the Khosrawi border for pilgrimage until further notice.

Javad Jahangirzadh, a member of Iran's parliament, was quoted as saying the aim of the attackers "was to show that the Iraq government was not successful and not performing well.

"There must be a plot behind all of this aimed at damaging the growing relationship between Iran and Iraq."

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahamedinejad earlier issued condolences for the Iranian pilgrims killed on Thursday.

"The report on martyrdom and injury of a group of dear compatriots, who were on their way to holy sites [in Iraq], has caused deep sorrow," he said. "The incident once again showed that the results and gift of occupation and terrorism for regional nations are insecurity and innocent people's bloodshed," he said.

Odierno said "this spike in suicide attacks that we've seen over the last couple of days, frankly, is another tragic event caused by al Qaeda and their links. They are killing many innocent people. They are killing pilgrims going to pray. They're killing women and children. They're killing homeless."

The violence erupted as the Obama administration plans to withdraw American troops from Iraq. The U.S.-Iraqi security agreement negotiated last year set a June 30 deadline for combat troops to be pulled out of urban areas.

The Iraqi government could request that combat forces remain in some cities and the agreement could be amended. The agreement calls for the withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of 2011.

Odierno was asked what effect the violence will have on that deadline and whether the volatile city of Mosul -- where al Qaeda in Iraq has had a potent presence -- would be included in the combat withdrawals.

"The one area I'm still not sure about is Mosul," Odierno said.Most of the 87 people who died Thursday were killed in a bombing in Diyala province, in which 55 died, and an attack in Baghdad that killed 28.

Many of the dead in the Diyala attack were also Shiite pilgrims from Iran.

In the Baghdad attack, a female suicide bomber struck as national police were helping distribute Red Crescent aid to displaced families in

What caused the death of 60 people in Baghdad?

What caused the ban on Iranian pilgrims crossing into Iraq?

What is the number of dead in the attack?

Answer: Suicide bombers

Answer: Suicide bombers

Answer: 60

Answer: Suicide bombers

Answer: Suicide bombers

Answer: Iranian

Answer: 60 people

Answer: attacks,

Answer: 60

Summary:
NEW: 60 dead in Baghdad shrine attack, car bomber kills seven in Diyala .
Many dead, wounded in attack near Baghdad shrine were Iranians on pilgrimage .
Many of the 87 killed on Thursday were also Shiite pilgrims from Iran .
Iran condemns attacks; Iranian pilgrims banned from crossing into Iraq .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Syria and Iraq each recalled their ambassadors from the other country Tuesday, after Baghdad demanded that Damascus hand over two suspects in last week's deadly bombings in the Iraqi capital. Plastic flowers decorate a car destroyed in last week's bombings in Baghdad, Iraq. Syrian state-run news agency SANA reported the government was ordering its ambassador home after the Iraqi government summoned its envoy from Syria and demanded that Damascus turn over two Iraqis living in Syria who played "direct roles in the execution of the terror attack," last Wednesday, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement. A string of bombings struck Iraq's capital August 19, with two truck bombs ripping through the Iraqi Finance Ministry and Foreign Ministry. At least 100 people were killed and hundreds more were wounded in Baghdad's bloodiest day since U.S. troops handed over security control to Iraqi forces and moved outside Iraqi cities nearly two months ago. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki visited the Foreign Ministry bombing site Tuesday. "We know it was the Baath Party, known for its heinous crimes throughout history, along with al Qaeda, who did this," he said, according to his office. The Islamic State of Iraq, the umbrella group for al Qaeda in Iraq, has claimed responsibility for the attack, which Syria condemned. "Syria felt pain over those bombings and strongly condemned them, describing those explosions as painful terrorist bombings and reiterating the Syrian support to the security, stability, safety and unity of Iraq," SANA reported. "But what is regretful is the hastiness of the Iraqi government to arbitrarily accuse Syria while analysts say the issue was internal political or, perhaps, foreign disagreements." The Iraqi government asked Tuesday that Syria "hand over all those wanted [by the Iraqi judiciary] for committing crimes of murder and destruction against the Iraqi people," al-Dabbagh's statement said. It further demanded that Syria expel "terrorist organizations that use Syria as a headquarters and launchpad to plan terrorist operations against the Iraqi people." SANA reported that the Syrian government was willing to help the Iraqis investigate the bombings. "Syria informed the Iraqi side of its readiness to receive an Iraqi delegation to inspect the evidence available to them concerning the bombings' perpetrators," a Syrian official said, according to SANA. "Otherwise Syria considers what has been broadcast through the Iraqi media as mere fabricated evidence intended to serve internal political goals, and the conflicting and contradicting statements by the Iraqi officials are proof of that." The official added, "Syria, which has frequently repeated its keenness on the unity, independence, security and stability of Iraq, expresses its regret that relations between Syria and Iraq have become subject to internal disagreements and perhaps foreign agendas." In its claim of responsibility for the attacks, the Islamic State of Iraq said, "The earth shook under their feet and their hearts were torn in fear and horror. ... And the weakness and fragility of their state became apparent to everyone." The statement was posted on Web sites typically used by the group. The Iraqi government released on Sunday what it said was a confession from a man who said he received orders for the bombing of the Finance Ministry building from a member of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's Baath Party who now lives in Syria. The videotaped statement from Wissam Ali Kadhim Ibrahim, who was identified as a former Baathist police official, aired on Iraqi television. Ibrahim said he received orders from Sattam Farhan, who he said was a Baath Party leader in Syria. Farhan and Mohammed Younis al-Ahmed, a former senior member of Hussein's regime, are the two men Iraq demands Syria turn over. The Iraqi government put al-Ahmed as the No. 2 man on a most wanted list it released in 2006, and the U.S. government announced a $1 million reward for him two years earlier. The spokesman for al-Ahmed's wing of the Baath Party in Syria contended Monday that the videotaped statement was fabricated and alleged that the man could have been paid to

Iraqi PM says the bombing were done by who?

What was Syria's response to Iraq's demands?

Who did the bombings according to the Iraqi PM?

Answer: Baath Party,

Answer: recalled their ambassadors

Answer: At least 100

Answer: At least 100

Answer: Baath Party,

Answer: the Islamic State of Iraq

Answer: hand over two suspects in last week's deadly bombings in the Iraqi capital.

Summary:
Iraqi PM says "we know" bombings were done by al Qaeda and Baath Party .
Syria recalls its ambassador to Iraq, state news agency says .
Iraq recalls ambassador to Syria amid furor over bombings, which killed 100 .
Iraq demands Syria turn over 2 Iraqis living in Syria, who are suspects in the attacks .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The Iraqi government said Friday it has arrested members of a cell believed responsible for Wednesday's truck bombings in which more than 100 people were killed. Workers clear the site outside the ministries of Finance and Foreign Affairs in Baghdad. Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, spokesman for Baghdad Operations Command, appeared on Iraqi state television Friday night to announce the arrests, which he said were made within two hours of the bombings in the capital city. Those arrested include people believed to have planned and executed the attacks, Atta said. It was not immediately clear how many people were arrested. Initial investigations show a link between the cell and the ousted Baath regime of Saddam Hussein, Atta said. Authorities are also seeking people thought to have provided cell members with logistical support and identification, he said. Iraq Security Forces recovered a truck Friday with five tons of C-4 explosives in the Abu Ghraib area, on the western outskirts of Baghdad, Atta said Friday night. More than 500 people were wounded Wednesday in the six explosions in Baghdad. In one attack, a truck bomb exploded outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The blast blew through the front of the building, sending some vehicles flying and leaving others in mangled twists of metal in the area, which is just outside the restricted International Zone, also known as the Green Zone. Another truck bomb went off outside the Ministry of Finance building. Authorities said Thursday that 11 high-ranking security officials from the Iraqi army and police were detained for investigation. The Iraqi government in the past has made claims of arrests that did not hold up. In April, it said it had captured Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the head of al Qaeda in Iraq's umbrella group, the Islamic State of Iraq. The Islamic State of Iraq denied it, and the capture was never confirmed by the U.S. military. The explosions made Wednesday the country's deadliest day since the United States pulled its combat troops from Iraqi cities and towns nearly two months ago and left security in the hands of the Iraqis. The U.S. military remains in a training and advisory capacity in those areas and continues to conduct combat operations outside cities and towns. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered increased security measures, including more checkpoints and more stringent vehicle searches across the capital, government officials said on Thursday. The Iraqi government has been trying to restore what it described as normalcy to the streets of the capital in recent weeks. Al-Maliki ordered his government to take down within 40 days the concrete blast walls that line Baghdad's streets and protected neighborhoods at the height of the war. Many Iraqis have criticized the move as premature.

How many  officials from the Iraqi army and police were detained?

How many people were killed by the  Wednesday bombings of Finance, Foreign Affairs ministries?

How many high-ranking security officials were detained?

Were there any fatalities in the Wednesday bombings?

Answer: 11

Answer: more than 100

Answer: 11 high-ranking security officials

Answer: Friday

Answer: 11

Answer: more than 100 people

Answer: Baghdad.

Summary:
Wednesday bombings of Finance, Foreign Affairs ministries killed more than 100 .
Iraqi official says suspects were arrested two hours after attacks .
11 high-ranking security officials from the Iraqi army and police detained, he says .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The U.S. military coalition in Iraq confirmed Tuesday that a business jet -- not a U.S. military aircraft -- was recently forced down in Iran due to an airspace violation.

A Falcon business jet is shown in an undated file photo.

"The airplane is now being confirmed as a light transport plane with no Americans onboard," Multi-National Forces-Iraq said in a statement issued Tuesday. "From what we have been seeing, it was a Falcon business jet. We have accounted for all our aircraft and none are missing."

The U.S. coalition in Iraq had no information on who owned the aircraft, stressing that it was not a registered American plane.

Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency initially reported that five American military officials were on board the U.S. aircraft. But other Iranian media reports -- quoting Iranian officials -- said the aircraft was Hungarian and no Americans were on the plane.

Iranian officials told Iran's state-run Arabic language channel Al-Alam that the incident happened a week ago and that the plane was carrying humanitarian workers.

Fars later changed its Farsi language report, citing other Iranian and Arab media as saying the plane was not an American aircraft

Fars also initially reported that aircraft, which it called a "Falcon fighter," entered Iranian airspace at a low altitude from Turkey to avoid radar detection, despite repeated warnings by the Islamic Republic Air Force. It said the plane also carried three civilians.

Washington is monitoring the reports, but White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said "as far as we know (they are) totally bogus."

U.S. National Security Council Spokesman Gordon Johndroe also said there is no indication that the reports are accurate.

"We're looking into the various and conflicting reports coming from the Iranian 'news' agencies, but do not have any information at this time that would lead us to believe they are correct," he said.

Fars said the aircraft, which was en route to Afghanistan, was forced to land at an Iranian airport that it did not name. Fars reported that the eight people aboard were released "after daylong interrogations" that revealed the aircraft had "unintentionally" violated Iran's airspace.

Fars said the aircraft was later allowed to continue on to Afghanistan.

Two top U.S. military officials told CNN's Barbara Starr that no U.S. military aircraft has been forced down. The U.S. military has an F-16 Fighting Falcon, but it is a one-seat jet fighter aircraft that is used by the U.S. Air Force for air-to-air and air-to-ground combat.

The Dassault Falcon is a European-made private passenger business jet that resembles a Lear jet. It can seat a crew of two and as many as 10 passengers. It's used for passenger transport, but also has military uses.

CNN's Saad Abedine in Baghdad, Iraq; Shirzad Bozorgmehr in Tehran, Iran; Caroline Faraj in Dubai; and Mike Mount in Washington contributed to this report

What country claimed they downed the aircraft?

How many Americans were on the aircraft?

Answer: recently

Answer: aircraft.

Answer: Iran

Answer: due to an airspace violation.

Answer: business jet

Answer: airspace violation.

Answer: five

Answer: U.S.

Answer: business jet

Summary:
NEW: Iran now says aircraft was forced down a week ago .
There were no Americans on board the aircraft, U.S. says .
Iranians say they forced down plane after it violated Iranian airspace .
Iran had claimed aircraft was a U.S. "Falcon fighter"


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The U.S. military formally handed authority over Baghdad's "Green Zone" to Iraqis on Thursday as new pacts governing the mission of international troops replaced a U.N. mandate. An Iraqi honor guard parades outside the former palace of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad on Thursday. Iraqi troops took over checkpoints around the heavily protected district, formally known as the International Zone, which houses Iraqi government offices and the U.S. Embassy. Saddam Hussein's Republican Palace, which served as U.S. headquarters in Baghdad after the 2003 invasion that ousted Iraq's longtime strongman, was among the facilities handed over in Thursday's ceremony. "This day is a great day in the history of the Iraqi people," Iraqi military spokesman Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta said. Maj. Gen. David Perkins, a U.S. military spokesman, noted the significance of turning over the former Republican Palace.  Watch what goes on in the "Green Zone" » "The palace was handed back to the Iraqi people, significant as symbol of the head of the government and a sign for increased sovereignty," he said at a news conference with Atta. Thursday marked the first day of a U.S.-Iraqi pact that allows U.S. forces to remain in the country until 2011, under tighter restrictions. Similar agreements have been signed with other coalition countries that remain in Iraq. A U.N. mandate that authorized international forces in the country expired Wednesday. Perkins said American troops will continue to fight alongside Iraqis -- "but the Iraqis will be in the lead." "When you come up to a checkpoint, the Iraqis will check your identification. They will make the decision if you come in or go out," he said. "We will continue to be there to provide some technical capacity, to provide some mentoring, but you will see less and less American forces and more and more Iraqi forces -- and they will have the majority of the responsibility for making those key decisions which determine the security of the capital." Iraq's three-member Presidency Council ratified the new pact in December. Under the deal, U.S. troops will withdraw from Iraqi cities and towns by June 30, and all American troops will leave the country by the end of 2011, more than eight years after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Hussein. The agreement authorizes the "temporary assistance" of U.S. forces but severely restricts their role. It requires Iraqi approval for all military operations and gives Iraqi courts the right to try U.S. troops and contractors for "grave premeditated felonies."

How long will the new bilateral pact last?

When will U.S. troops be leaving Iraqi cities by?

Who will leave Iraqi cities by end of June?

When are US troops expected to leave Iraq?

Answer: 2011,

Answer: until 2011,

Answer: June 30,

Answer: Wednesday.

Answer: mandate that authorized international forces in the country

Answer: U.S. troops

Answer: U.S.-Iraqi pact

Answer: by the end of 2011,

Answer: that authorized international forces in the country

Summary:
U.N. mandate authorizing foreign troop presence expired Wednesday .
New bilateral pact covers U.S. presence until 2011 .
U.S. troops to leave Iraqi cities by end of June .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The head of Iraq's main humanitarian group said an 18-year-old approached him with a baby suffering from leukemia. The desperate mother said she'd do "anything" for treatment for her child -- and then offered herself up for sex. Baha, 12, waits for treatment in an Iraqi Red Crescent center after shrapnel pierced his left eye. Said Ismail Hakki breaks down in tears as he recalls that story. Leukemia can be treatable to a degree in much of the world, but not in Iraq. The baby died two months later. "It shook me like hell," said Hakki, the president of the Iraqi Red Crescent. "All my life I've been a surgeon. I've seen blood; I've seen death. That never shook me -- none whatsoever. But when I see the suffering of those people, that really shook me." The plight of Iraq's children is nearing epidemic proportions, he said, with mothers and fathers abandoning their children "because they're becoming a liability." The parents don't do it out of convenience, they do it out of desperation.  Watch the plight of Iraq's children » "When you become so desperate, you tend to just throw everything up and go," Hakki said. "Every time I look at those children, I ask myself first, 'What crime have those children committed?'" Hakki says Red Crescent has the monumental task of treating and feeding more than 1.6 million children under the age of 12 who have become homeless in their own country. That's roughly 70 percent of the estimated 2.3 million Iraqis who are homeless inside Iraq. How to help the Iraqi Red Crescent With 95,000 volunteers and 5,000 employees, the Iraqi Red Crescent is the last line of defense for the country's poor, sick and displaced. They try to blend in as best they can, with Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds working in the neighborhoods distinct to their ethnicities. Six employees of the Iraqi Red Crescent have been killed over the last four years. Eight have been wounded, including six left disabled by the severity of their wounds. Hakki says the spike in numbers of abandoned children is especially alarming, the result of sectarian violence and drastic socio-economic problems. The majority of parents in Iraq, he says, leave their children with a single relative who often has about 20 to 30 children to look after. Some parents just leave their kids altogether. Many of the families are living in areas without basic needs, like water and electricity, and there are no jobs available. "It's a desperate situation," he said. "Children are becoming a liability for both the father and the mother." The greatest concern is the ripple effect it will have in the long term -- an entire generation lacking basic life skills, surviving with no education, no income and no families.  See wounded Iraqi children get help in neighboring Jordan » "The trauma of what's happening to those children is enormous," he said. "If somebody is injured by a bullet or shrapnel, it takes a week or two and he's fine. ... The psycho-social injury is pretty deep and can take months, if not years, to heal. "That's the task -- the mammoth task -- the Iraq Red Crescent is facing." The group gets some financial support from the central government. It's also negotiating with the U.S. Embassy, he said, to see if it can offer financial aid. But funds are low. Just recently, the group closed 18 camps for the winter and is trying to house those thousands of people in abandoned government buildings. At a waiting room at an Iraqi Red Crescent treatment center in Baghdad's Mansour district, CNN came across several young children in desperate need of care. But they were among the lucky ones -- if that term can even be applied -- because their parents remain with them. Baha, a 12-year-old boy, was waiting to see a doctor, recalling the exact date

What does the Head of Iraqi Red Crescent say?

Answer: abandoning their children

Answer: Iraqi Red Crescent

Answer: an 18-year-old approached him

Answer: their children

Answer: the ripple effect it will have in the long term

Summary:
Head of Iraqi Red Crescent says parents abandoning their kids at alarming rates .
Sometimes he wonders: "Oh my God, how are we going to solve it?"
The greatest concern is the long-term effect on an entire generation .
"Trauma of what's happening to those children is enormous"


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The highly fortified International Zone in Baghdad came under fire the same day that Vice President Joe Biden paid a surprise visit, an Interior Ministry official told CNN. Vice President Joe Biden talks to the media Tuesday in Baghdad's fortified International Zone. Biden was not injured, according to CNN's Chris Lawrence, who was traveling with the vice president. But at least one round seems to have landed in the U.S. Embassy grounds, U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill said. The zone houses the embassy and many government buildings. Lawrence said he heard the blasts but saw no damage. CNN's Cal Perry said he heard four loud "booms." Warning alarms were sounded, and security was stepped up in the International Zone, which is informally known as the Green Zone. It is not clear what weapons were fired or if Biden was near the location where the rounds hit. For security reasons, reporters traveling with the vice president are not allowed to report his location.  Watch as Lawrence reports on the attack » A U.S. military spokesman said he could confirm only that one round hit, and he said it did not land in the International Zone. "Initial reports indicate one round of indirect fire impacted near the International Zone, not in it," Lt. Col. Phillip Smith, a spokesman for the U.S. military in Baghdad, told CNN. But Hill told reporters that some sort of projectile landed in the east end of the embassy complex. He said the projectile was the reason for a "duck-and-cover" alarm that journalists traveling with Biden heard during a briefing by top U.S. officials in Baghdad. The alarm sounded intermittently throughout almost the entire 35-minute briefing by Hill and the top U.S. general in Iraq, Ray Odierno, Lawrence said. Odierno and Hill did not seem concerned, he said. No one jumped up or tried to run out of the building. They paused if they were talking when the alarm sounded, and picked up when it stopped. There was an "all-clear" as the briefing ended. Hill said it is kind of unusual to get this type of attack now. He said they used to happen 10 to 12 times a day, but now are few and far between. Biden's visit was widely reported on Iraqi television, Perry said. He is in Iraq to meet with the country's leaders and visit U.S. troops, his office said. Journalists on the plane with the vice president were not told where they were going until after they were on the way. Biden was due to sit down with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, as well as Massoud Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan Regional Government, and other officials. He was greeted at the airport at dusk by Gen. Odierno, Ambassador Hill and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.  Watch Biden arrive in Iraq, greet troops » He flew by helicopter to the International Zone. Biden, Hill, Odierno and Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg, who is traveling with Biden, then went into a meeting. They did not speak to reporters. This is Biden's third trip to Iraq this year, after visits in July and January. "The president has asked the vice president to provide sustained, high-level focus from the White House on Iraq, and this trip is part of that mission," the White House said in a statement issued as Biden arrived. The United States is less than a year away from its goal of withdrawing all combat troops from Iraq. Hill has said the next 12 months are "very critical" to establishing security in Iraq, but the goal of withdrawing most U.S. troops by August 2010 is "absolutely achievable." Biden said Odierno is "optimistic" that Iraqi forces will be ready in time to allow U.S. withdrawals to go ahead as planned, according to Lawrence. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this report.

Who says projectile landed near embassy?

What was common in past, but has become much rarer?

Who was on a surprise visit and not injured?

Who according to pool report on a surprise visi?

Answer: east end of the embassy complex.

Answer: U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill

Answer: he could confirm only that one round hit, and he said it did not land in the International

Answer: weapons were fired or if Biden was near the location where the rounds hit.

Answer: this type of attack

Answer: weapons were fired or if Biden was near the location where the rounds hit.

Answer: Vice President Joe Biden

Answer: Vice President Joe Biden

Summary:
NEW: Zone not hit, military says; ambassador says projectile landed near embassy .
VP Joe Biden, on a surprise visit, not injured, according to pool report .
It's not clear what arms were fired or if Biden was near location where round hit .
Rocket, mortar fire aimed at area was common in past, but has become much rarer .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The one-star general almost yells when asked to talk about the infamous Abu Ghraib photos showing U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi detainees. An Iraqi detainee grips a fence at Camp Cropper, one of the few U.S. detention centers remaining in Iraq. "If we had had a company commander doing what he was supposed to be doing, a battalion commander doing what he was supposed to be doing ...," Brig. Gen. David Quantock said. He carried on -- growing more and more angry. So the next obvious question was, "It makes you angry?" "It does make me angry," he said. "Because I think we lost a lot of American lives because of those photos." And there it is -- the issue of detainee abuse and what the U.S. military struggles with, and has struggled with, since the release of those photos in 2004, some of which showed naked prisoners being humiliated, stacked in piles or subjected to mock torture. Quantock, the head of detainee operations in Iraq, is echoing a debate raging in Washington. Another round of photos allegedly showing further abuse of prisoners was to be released by the end of this month. But President Obama asked that the photos be held back. Obama said he believed the release of the pictures could put American lives in danger. That is Catch-22 situation No. 1: on one hand transparency; on the other, the safety of U.S. troops. Quantock agreed with his commander in chief. "The jihadists have used those pictures. And it has spurred some of the violence," he said. Walking through Camp Cropper -- one of the last remaining U.S. detention centers in Iraq -- it is clear the damaging photos have forced the United States to become more transparent in its dealings with prisoners. Detainees are now checked before and after interrogations to ensure the guards have not abused them. Officers who walk the catwalk, the long metal walkway that surrounds the sprawling yard housing the detainees, have more oversight. These institutional checks reduce the possibility that abuse could reach the same scale as it did in Abu Ghraib in 2003. The camp itself has a strange feeling to it. Visitors are told to put on sunglasses before entering some of the holding areas. Many of the detainees spit and even throw their own fecal matter at the guards, officials said. Inmates in American detention with arrest warrants against them will be turned over to Iraqi authorities under the terms of the U.S.-Iraqi security agreement. All others will be released. But the United States has signed the international treaty against torture, which compels a nation to keep suspects detained rather than send them to another country if that other country might ill-treat them. "Iraqi detention facilities are not good; they are not like American facilities," said a woman who had just visited her detainee husband at Camp Cropper. "There is a lot of witness testimony from detainees who suffered maltreatment in Iraqi detention facilities." A U.N. report examining the second half of 2008 agreed, saying that detention centers run by Iraqis are using torture and physical abuse to extract confessions. The lingering questions about Iraqi detention facilities create Catch-22 situation No. 2. The United States very much wants not only to get out of Iraq, but to get out of the detainee operation business. But it has a legal bar to satisfy. For its part, the U.S. military said it is inspecting and monitoring nine of the Iraqi facilities where its detainees will go. Iraqi government authorities maintain that they are treating all prisoners in accordance with international law. But when the United States pulls its last troops form Iraq, the monitoring is likely to stop. Nongovernmental organizations have been denied access, and CNN recently has not been allowed into any Iraqi prison.

what did the pictures show
what were the photos about

Answer: naked prisoners being humiliated, stacked in piles or subjected to mock torture.

Answer: U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi detainees.

Summary:
U.S. head of detainee operations in Iraq is angered by Abu Ghraib photos .
The pictures showing abuse of Iraqi prisoners continue to cause problems .
U.S. military faces tough choices over future of detainees in Iraq .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The top court in Iraq sentenced two of Saddam Hussein's half-brothers to death Wednesday for crimes against humanity. Tariq Aziz, seen in 2002, was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in jail for crimes against humanity. The court also sentenced former Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz and a former senior official known as "Chemical Ali" -- Ali Hassan al-Majeed -- to 15 years in custody for crimes against humanity, an official with the Iraq High Tribunal told CNN. The men were sentenced for their roles in the 1992 execution of 42 merchants. In an unrelated trial last week, Al-Majeed was sentenced to death for his role in putting down an uprising in Baghdad a decade ago, Iraqi state TV reported. It was the third death sentence for al-Majeed, a cousin of Hussein, the former dictator of Iraq who was toppled from power by the U.S.-led coalition in 2003. Al-Majeed and other former members of Hussein's regime remain in U.S. custody. His execution has been delayed for political rather than legal reasons. In last week's trial, Aziz was acquitted.  Aziz, one of the best-known faces of the Hussein regime, was Iraq's deputy prime minister from 1981 to 2003 and also served as minister of foreign affairs for part of that time.  He was captured by U.S. forces in April 2003, shortly after the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Meanwhile, car bombs in the northern Iraqi cities of Mosul and Kirkuk killed six people on Wednesday, officials told CNN. The Mosul car bomb, which targeted troops, killed four people and wounded 14 others, an Interior Ministry official said. The car, parked near the city's medical college, blew up near an Iraqi army patrol. Of the dead, three were soldiers. Four other soldiers were among those wounded. Mosul, which has long been a volatile city, has had a strong militant presence. In Kirkuk, a parked car bomb exploded near a police patrol, killing two civilians and wounding seven others. The oil-rich and ethnically diverse city is known for sectarian and political tension. People were injured in wo other incidents in Iraq on Wednesday. In Baghdad, mortar fire in a residential area wounded four civilians. And a roadside bomb in the largely Kurdish town of Jalawla in Diyala province wounded four police officers. CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this story

Who currently faces multiple death sentences?

What number of people were killed by car bombs?

What sentence did Saddam Hussein's half-brothers receive?

What is the nickname of Hussein's cousin?

What length of sentences did the court give?

Where did car bombs cause half a dozen deaths?

What were the half brothers sentenced to?

What is Chemical Ali's relation to Saddam Hussein?

What caused the deaths of six people in Mosul and Kirkuk?

Answer: Ali Hassan al-Majeed

Answer: six

Answer: death

Answer: "Chemical Ali"

Answer: 15 years in custody for crimes against humanity,

Answer: northern Iraqi cities of Mosul and Kirkuk

Answer: death

Answer: a cousin of

Answer: car bombs

Summary:
NEW: Car bombs in northern Iraqi cities of Mosul and Kirkuk kill six people .
Two Saddam Hussein half-brothers sentenced to death for crimes against humanity .
Court gives 15-year sentences to former Deputy PM Tariq Aziz and "Chemical Ali"
"Chemical Ali," Hussein's cousin, already faces three death sentences .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The women are too afraid and ashamed to show their faces or have their real names used. They have been driven to sell their bodies to put food on the table for their children -- for as little as $8 a day.

Suha, 37, is a mother of three. She says her husband thinks she is cleaning houses when she leaves home.

"People shouldn't criticize women, or talk badly about them," says 37-year-old Suha as she adjusts the light colored scarf she wears these days to avoid extremists who insist women cover themselves. "They all say we have lost our way, but they never ask why we had to take this path."

A mother of three, she wears light makeup, a gold pendant of Iraq around her neck, and an unexpected air of elegance about her.

"I don't have money to take my kid to the doctor. I have to do anything that I can to preserve my child, because I am a mother," she says, explaining why she prostitutes herself.

Anger and frustration rise in her voice as she speaks.

"No matter what else I may be, no matter how off the path I may be, I am a mother!"  Watch a woman describe turning to prostitution to "save my child" »

Her clasped hands clench and unclench nervously. Suha's husband thinks that she is cleaning houses when she goes away.

So does Karima's family.

"At the start I was cleaning homes, but I wasn't making much. No matter how hard I worked it just wasn't enough," she says.

Karima, clad in all black, adds, "My husband died of lung cancer nine months ago and left me with nothing."

She has five children, ages 8 to 17. Her eldest son could work, but she's too afraid for his life to let him go into the streets, preferring to sacrifice herself than risk her child.

She was solicited the first time when she was cleaning an office.

"They took advantage of me," she says softly. "At first I rejected it, but then I realized I have to do it."

Both Suha and Karima have clients that call them a couple times a week. Other women resort to trips to the market to find potential clients. Or they flag down vehicles.

Prostitution is a choice more and more Iraqi women are making just to survive.

"It's increasing," Suha says. "I found this 'thing' through my friend, and I have another friend in the same predicament as mine. Because of the circumstance, she is forced to do such things."

Violence, increased cost of living, and lack of any sort of government aid leave women like these with few other options, according to humanitarian workers.

"At this point there is a population of women who have to sell their bodies in order to keep their children alive," says Yanar Mohammed, head and founder of the Organization for Women's Freedom in Iraq. "It's a taboo that no one is speaking about."

She adds, "There is a huge population of women who were the victims of war who had to sell their bodies, their souls and they lost it all. It crushes us to see them, but we have to work on it and that's why we started our team of women activists."

Her team pounds the streets of Baghdad looking for these victims often too humiliated to come forward.

"Most of the women that we find at hospitals [who] have tried to commit suicide" have been involved in prostitution, said Basma Rahim, a member of Mohammed's team.

The team's aim is to compile information on specific cases and present it to Iraq's political parties -- to have them, as Mohammed puts it, "come tell us what [they] are ... going to do about this."

Rahim tells the heartbreaking story of one woman they

Which group is working to raise awareness about the problems with  Iraqi political leaders?

What TV station talked to Iraqi mothers?

for what did iraqi mothers turn to prostitution?

What did two women have to do to help feed their children?

What increased the cost of living in Iraq?

What proffession are Iraq women turning too?

Is the issue affecting women with children?

What has high cost of living done to women in Iraq?

Answer: Organization for Women's Freedom in Iraq.

Answer: Organization for Women's Freedom in Iraq.

Answer: their children

Answer: Prostitution

Answer: They have been driven to sell their bodies

Answer: Organization for Women's Freedom

Answer: (CNN)

Answer: "People shouldn't criticize women, or talk badly about them,"

Answer: put food on the table for their children

Answer: their children

Answer: put food on the table for their children

Answer: put food on the table

Answer: sell

Answer: put food on the table

Answer: Violence,

Answer: prostitution

Answer: They have been driven to sell their bodies to put food on the table for their children

Answer: sell their bodies

Summary:
Aid workers: Violence, increased cost of living drive women to prostitution .
Group is working to raise awareness of the problem with Iraq's political leaders .
Two Iraqi mothers tell CNN they turned to prostitution to help feed their children .
"Everything is for the children," one woman says .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- They're paid to watch for suspicious activity, to prevent bloody attacks. But employees at Baghdad's surveillance center often watch helplessly as death and destruction unfold before their eyes, on camera. Security cameras watch the streets of Baghdad, but the center's director says it has a long way to go. The center was set up a year and a half ago, with employees on the lookout for trouble, as police officers in a back room listen to the traffic on their radios. But there are not enough cameras to cover all of Baghdad -- only 5 percent of the city is surveilled under the current system. The cameras picked up suspicious activity last Wednesday, but within 20 seconds -- before any action could be taken -- a truck blew up in front of the Foreign Ministry building. By day's end, bombings had killed nearly 100 people in the city. The fledgling security surveillance operation has a long way to go, its director acknowledges. The center is understaffed and not yet open around the clock.  Watch security camera video of attacks » Though overall attacks have decreased in Iraq, the images on screen serve as undeniable evidence of the ongoing violence the Iraqi government is struggling to prevent. That effort includes 113 security cameras placed mainly around government buildings throughout the city, though not all are functioning at any given time. Each work station at the surveillance center monitors the feeds from 10 cameras. After last week's bombings -- which made Wednesday the bloodiest day in Iraq since U.S. combat troops withdrew from Iraqi cities at the end of June -- the center's managers met with Iraqi security forces in an effort to increase the number of cameras. "We should all admit responsibility for this major breach of security," the director said. "And we have to fix the system." For now, as the carnage fills the screen like a violent movie, employees cringe with guilt. They know that every time there is a blast on screen, it's because they were not able to prevent it.

What is the number of cameras the city has?

what percent of the  capital is covered by security cameras?

how many security cameras are there  around government buildings?

What percent of te Iraqi capital are covered with security cameras?

what is the percentage of the city covered?

Answer: Foreign Ministry

Answer: 113

Answer: 5

Answer: 113

Answer: it has a long way to go.

Answer: increase the number of cameras.

Answer: 5

Answer: 5 percent

Summary:
Baghdad has 113 security cameras around government buildings .
But workers often see attacks occurring that they don't have time to prevent .
Only 5 percent of the Iraqi capital covered by security cameras .
Center's managers want more cameras; "We have to fix the system," director says .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Thousands of people marched in central Baghdad on Saturday to protest a proposed U.S.-Iraqi security agreement that would extend the presence of U.S. troops in the country after the end of the year. Thousands staged a mass march through Baghdad, Iraq, on Saturday to protest a planned U.S.-Iraq security deal. The political party of Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called for the rally. At one point, several speakers at a podium addressed the mass of people, urging the Iraqi government to reject the proposal. "End the U.S. occupation of Iraq!" one speaker shouted in English. Hazem al-Araji, a senior al-Sadr aide, told protesters their voices would be heard in America. "Thanks to you, to these voices and the millions of voices, George Bush will hear these millions of calls in his 'Black House' -- in which you shouted out, 'No, no, America!'" he said.  Watch protesters wave flags, swarm street » "This talk and these words are that of the leader, Muqtada al-Sadr: Baghdad is free, free! America, get out. This voice does not reach the Green Zone. We want to hear everyone who is occupied in that area saying Baghdad is free, free, America get out!" al-Araji exclaimed. Protesters clogged several streets in the capital, waving Iraqi flags and kicking up dust. The demonstration, the largest in Baghdad in several months, was largely peaceful. Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said in Washington on Thursday a draft status-of-forces agreement authorizing the U.S. troop presence in Iraq had "been agreed upon by U.S. and Iraqi negotiators" and was being reviewed by the two governments. A U.N. mandate authorizing the U.S. troop presence in Iraq expires December 31, and U.S. officials are examining "contingencies" in case the Iraqi government is unable to sell the status-of-forces deal to the country's various factions, a senior Bush administration official said this week. The same official said negotiations on the pact had finished and the text was final. The official said the "final" draft calls for U.S. troops to be out of Iraqi cities by June 2009 and out of Iraq by the end of 2011 unless the Iraqis ask the United States to stay. The U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions, said negotiators had also "reached a compromise" on the issue of U.S. troops remaining immune from Iraqi law -- an issue that was a major hurdle in the talks. Baghdad has sought the power to arrest and try Americans accused of crimes not related to official military operations, plus jurisdiction over troops and contractors who commit grave mistakes in the course of their duties. The United States has insisted its troops and contractors remain immune from Iraqi law. CNN State Department Producer Elise Labott contributed to this report.

Answer: mandate authorizing the U.S. troop presence in Iraq

Summary:
Proposed deal would extend U.S. troop presence in Iraq after end of the year .
Thousands of protesters urged Iraqi government to reject the proposal .
U.N. mandate authorizing U.S. troops in Iraq expires December 31 .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Three U.S. soldiers were killed and 31 others wounded in two rocket attacks Sunday afternoon in Baghdad, the U.S. military said. Mehdi Army militiamen celebrate after attacking an Iraqi Army vehicle in Baghdad's Sadr City on Sunday. Earlier Sunday, fighting between U.S. troops and the Mehdi Army militia loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr left at least 20 dead and 52 wounded in Baghdad's Sadr City, according to an Iraqi Interior Ministry official. The U.S. military said it had no information about the Sadr City fighting. Sunday's violence came as Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki demanded al-Sadr disband his Mehdi Army and threatened to bar al-Sadr's followers from the political process if the cleric refused.  Watch a report from the front line in Sadr City » "A decision was taken yesterday that they no longer have a right to participate in the political process or take part in the upcoming elections unless they end the Mehdi Army," al-Maliki said. Sunday's American fatalities bring the death toll of U.S. troops in the Iraq war to 4,022; that toll includes eight civilian contractors working for the Pentagon. Nearly 30,000 others have been wounded in action. An attack involving a "couple of rounds" of fire on the International Zone, also known as the Green Zone, killed two soldiers and wounded 17 others about 3:30 p.m., a military official said, declining to give the specific location of the attack for security reasons. A separate attack about 30 minutes earlier killed one soldier and wounded 14 at a U.S. military outpost in Rustamiya in southeastern Baghdad, the military said. Responding to al-Maliki's comments, a spokesman for al-Sadr, Sheikh Salah al-Obeidi, said that any effort to bar Sadrists from participation in politics would be unconstitutional -- and that any decision to disband the Mehdi Army is not the government's to make. "It is up to the side that established it," he said. Al-Maliki spoke in an exclusive interview with CNN after a weeklong military offensive against what Iraqi officials called gangs and militia members in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. Hundreds were killed or wounded in the fighting across Iraq, which reportedly ended when Iranian and Iraqi Shiite officials held talks in Iran with al-Sadr. Asked about Iran's role in ending the Basra conflict, al-Maliki attributed the cease-fire to the work of his security forces. Haidar al-Abadi, an Iraqi lawmaker who belongs to al-Maliki's Dawa Party, said last week that Iranian officials participated in the discussions, and another source close to the talks said the Iranians pressured al-Sadr to craft an agreement. "I am not aware of such an attempt," al-Maliki said Sunday. "What happened on the ground and the breakdown in the structure of this militia is what made Muqtada al-Sadr issue his statement to withdraw his militants from the streets. What happened was something to save Muqtada, not to help us."  Watch al-Maliki talk about issues that concern Iraq » In northern Iraq, security forces detained a suspect Sunday and were searching for others in connection with the kidnapping of 42 college students, authorities said. Gunmen seized the male students in northern Iraq before releasing them several hours later, according to a military spokesman and police in Nineveh province. None was harmed, according to the U.S. military. Gunmen stopped two buses loaded with students who were on their way to college, but one bus managed to escape, police said.  Four students on the bus that escaped were wounded by gunfire, police said. Students on the other bus were released Sunday afternoon after coalition military forces spotted the bus during an air patrol on the western outskirts of Mosul, according to a U.S. military news release. The kidnappers fled the vehicle after it was stopped, according to a military press release. Other developments • A Christian priest was shot and killed in eastern Baghdad's Wihda neighborhood around noon Saturday, according to an Iraqi Interior Ministry official. The priest

Who bans Sadrists from politics if Mehdi Army not disbanded?

Answer: Baghdad's Sadr City,

Answer: two rocket attacks

Answer: two rocket attacks

Answer: Three U.S. soldiers

Answer: a suspect

Answer: Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki

Answer: bar al-Sadr's followers from the political process

Summary:
Rocket attacks kill 3 U.S. troops, wound 31 .
Prime minister to ban Sadrists from politics if Mehdi Army not disbanded .
One arrested in kidnapping of a busload of college students, police say .
Interior Ministry official says militia fighting U.S. troops in Sadr City .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Three bombings killed an Iraqi official and three police officers and wounded 14 other Iraqis on Sunday evening and Monday morning, according to an official with the Iraqi Interior Ministry. A U.S. soldier plays with a boy Monday while on patrol in Babil province, Iraq. An Iraqi police captain was killed when a bomb attached under his vehicle exploded as he drove to work Monday morning in Baghdad, the Interior Ministry official said. Seven people, including three Iraqi soldiers, were wounded by the "sticky bomb" blast, which happened as the captain drove to a checkpoint in eastern Baghdad's Zafaraniya neighborhood. The military refers to bombs attached to vehicles without the driver's knowledge as "sticky bombs." The deputy head of the Iraqi National Dialogue Front was killed Sunday evening by a suicide bomb blast in the town of Al-Qaiyara,  south of Mosul, according to Mosul police. The bomber entered Sheikh Hassan Zaidan al-Luhaibi's guest house and detonated an explosives vest, killing the sheikh and two other police officers, police said. Another bomb blast on Sunday evening wounded seven people who were putting up campaign posters and banners for candidates along Palestine Street in eastern Baghdad, the official said. The people were campaigning for candidates in Iraq's provincial council elections set for January 31, the official said. CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq and Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this report.

What were the people putting up when they were killed?

An Iraqi police captain was killed by what?

What kind of bomb was responsible for this damage?

How many people were wounded but not killed?

Answer: campaign posters and banners

Answer: 14

Answer: an Iraqi official and three police officers

Answer: when a bomb attached under his vehicle exploded as he drove to work

Answer: "sticky bomb"

Answer: 14

Answer: under his vehicle

Answer: Iraqi official

Answer: 14

Answer: The deputy head of the Iraqi National Dialogue Front

Answer: an Iraqi official and three police officers

Summary:
The deputy head of the Iraqi National Dialogue Front is killed by a suicide bomb blast .
An Iraqi police captain is killed when a bomb attached under his vehicle explodes .
Bomb blast wounds seven people putting up campaign posters and banners .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Three of five Americans contractors detained in Baghdad have been ordered released by an Iraqi judge, because of insufficient evidence, a court spokesman said Thursday. In a CNN exclusive, video shows U.S. contractors taken into custody by Iraqi authorities. The other two other contractors remain in custody, according to Judge Abdul Sattar al-Beeraqdar, a spokesman for Iraq's Higher Judicial Council. One of the men has been released on bond, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad confirmed Thursday. The embassy did not identify the man, who was released Wednesday. However, a spokesman for his employer, Corporate Training Unlimited, said it was Donald Feeney. Judy Feeney, Donald's wife, also confirmed his release. The contracting company said the release of the others has been delayed because of a procedural issue. Judy Feeney said her son, Donald Feeney III, and Mark Bridges were to be released Thursday morning, but it may take more time to release the other two, Jason Jones and Micah Milligan. But al-Beeraqdar said, without naming names, that two contractors were being held on charges involving "illegal substances" found on the men when they were taken into custody. Those who have been released are not allowed to leave the country because of an ongoing investigation and the judge may want to question them again, according to al-Beeraqdar. Except for Jones, the detained contractors work for the Fayetteville, North Carolina-based CTU, a security firm headed by the elder Feeney. An Iraqi judge decided earlier on Wednesday that charges against the five contractors were not warranted and that they could be released, according to an Iraqi security source and a source close to the five. The sources requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case, in which the contractors have been detained since last week for reasons that remain unclear. The contractors initially had been told they were being held in connection with the May death of another contractor, James Kitterman, said the source close to the five. But on Monday, according to a judicial source, the men were told they were being held on suspicion of having unregistered weapons. Still, they were asked about their activities around the time Kitterman was killed, and Iraqi government officials told CNN Monday the five were detained as suspects in connection with Kitterman's slaying. Kitterman was found bound, blindfolded and fatally stabbed in a car in Baghdad's Green Zone on May 22. The 60-year-old Houston, Texas, resident owned a construction company that operated in Iraq. The Green Zone is the high-security area in central Baghdad that contains the U.S. Embassy and key Iraqi government buildings. Access to the area, formally known as the International Zone, is tightly controlled. The five contractors were taken into custody on June 3 in a pre-dawn Green Zone raid by Iraqi and U.S. personnel, the security source told CNN on Sunday. During the raid, troops also confiscated weapons, the Iraqi security source said. Three of the contractors were suspected of being directly involved in Kitterman's death, the Iraqi source said. A U.S. Embassy spokesman said the search was an Iraqi operation, but FBI representatives were present at the request of Iraqi authorities. The five were transferred to a prison within the Green Zone on Friday. "After this murder inside the Green Zone, a joint investigation committee from U.S. and Iraq sides has been formed to investigate this incident," Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Karim Khalaf told CNN, "and this committee managed to collect a number of indications that those five are linked to this murder." Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh also said the men were detained based on information linking them to the Kitterman slaying. Under Iraqi law, after a person is detained, an investigative judge questions the accused and assesses the evidence. The judge then decides whether there is sufficient evidence, and either refers the case to trial or dismisses it. The Iraqi source said the five had been held in a separate holding area and not with other Iraqi detainees, but spent time in

What is the name of the contractor released on bond?

What is the number of U.S. contractors held in Iraq?

what did the judge rule on the contractors

Answer: "illegal substances"

Answer: Americans contractors detained in Baghdad have been ordered released

Answer: U.S. contractors taken into custody by Iraqi authorities.

Answer: Baghdad

Answer: on suspicion of having unregistered weapons.

Answer: Donald Feeney.

Answer: Donald Feeney.

Answer: five

Answer: Three of five Americans contractors detained in Baghdad have been ordered released

Answer: ordered released

Answer: since last week

Answer: "illegal substances"

Answer: suspects in connection with Kitterman's slaying.

Summary:
Judge orders three of five U.S. contractors held in Iraq to be freed .
Two others remain in custody on charges involving "illegal substances"
Contractor already released on bond; wife, employer identify him as Donald Feeney .
Men detained in connection with slaying of another U.S. contractor, sources say .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Turkish troops fired artillery shells into northern Iraq on Wednesday nearly a week after Turkey completed its eight-day ground offensive targeting Kurdish militants, an Iraqi official told CNN. Turkish troops patrol near the border with Iraq during the February offensive. Jabbar Yawer, spokesman for Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government security forces, said at least 16 rounds were fired on Dashti Barzji -- an uninhabited area in Iraq's Irbil province located about 12 miles from Iraq's border. Irbil is one of the three provinces compromising Iraq's Kurdish region. The Turkish military in Ankara had no immediate comment about the report. Yawer said Turkish helicopters were seen in the area during the strike but said that the choppers were not involved in the attack. The border conflict has wider implications for the Middle East and Asia, with the United States concerned that prolonged cross-border fighting would serve to destabilize the region, where Kurdish separatists pose challenges to power in Iran and Syria, as well as  Turkey » and  Iraq ». The Turkish military for months has been conducting cross-border airstrikes and artillery fire in northern Iraq against members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK -- militants who have been launching attacks against Turkey from bases in northern Iraq. Turkish troops launched a ground offensive on the evening of Feb. 21 "to prevent the region from being used as a safe haven by the terrorists and to contribute to the internal peace and stability of Iraq in the long run." It was the first significant Turkish ground offensive into Iraq since the 2003 overthrow of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, and it ended after Iraqi and U.S. officials urged Turkey to make the foray as brief as possible. A total of 240 rebels, 24 troops, and three village guards were killed, the Turkish military said. The PKK has spent two decades fighting for autonomy for Kurds in southeastern Turkey, with some of its attacks launched from inside northern Iraq. Turks regard the PKK militants as terrorists and point to indiscriminate PKK attacks against civilians as well as police and military targets over the years. The United States and the European Union also label the PKK a terrorist organization. U.S. officials have shared intelligence with Turkey. The Iraqi government opposes the PKK presence, but it views the Turkish military incursion as a violation of its sovereignty. E-mail to a friend CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq in Baghdad and Talia Kayali in Atlanta contributed to this report

Where did Turkish troops fire artilery into?

What does the latest action come a week after?

When did Turkish troops fire the shells?

What is the name of the targeted  province ?

Who completed an eight-day ground offensive?

What was fired on uninhabited area in Iraq's Irbil province?

Answer: northern Iraq

Answer: Turkey completed its eight-day ground offensive targeting Kurdish militants,

Answer: Wednesday

Answer: Irbil

Answer: Turkey

Answer: northern Iraq

Answer: at least 16 rounds

Answer: Turkish troops

Answer: 16

Summary:
Turkish troops fire artillery shells into northern Iraq .
At least 16 rounds fired on uninhabited area in Iraq's Irbil province .
Latest action comes a week after Turkey completes eight-day ground offensive .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Twelve-year-old Mohammed Rasoul, his right leg severed below the knee, maneuvers on crutches over the dirt and loose stones through the Falluja graveyard.

Mohammed Rasoul sitting with his mother, Jinan Khalifa, eagerly awaits his trip to the United States.

Row after row of headstones stand as the deadly reminder of the tragedy the city went through as insurgents battled for control of the city.

Mohammed stops at his cousin's grave. "I feel an ache when I think of her. Every time I remember her, I cry," he told CNN at a visit to the grave a few months ago. As he spoke, he poured water on a tree he planted next to it.

The headstone reads: "Martyr 643, the child Hajer Ismael Khalil, 13 October 2006."

Clutching her photograph, Mohammed says, "My cousin died on the scene. I still remember her screams."

The same explosion cost him his leg and his childhood. "A car came out of nowhere. My cousin was playing with her friend," he says. "I remember [the car] was green. It detonated."  Watch Mohammed tell his story »

His mother, Jinan Khalifa, remembers that day all too well. She was in the kitchen when she heard a deafening explosion.

"There was shattered glass from the windows falling all over us. I went outside and saw my son covered in blood from head to toe," she says.

Her son endured 11 operations before doctors amputated his leg below the knee. Khalifa says her son put forward a tough face, but when he finally went back home the shock hit him.

"That's where his personality started to change. He stopped laughing," she says.

"It was tearing me up," Mohammed says "It was hard for me to watch others play. And I couldn't, I couldn't walk, it agitated me."

CNN first broadcast his story in May where it caught the attention of an American charity, the Global Medical Relief Fund, which offered to help.

"I cannot put my feelings into words," Khalifa says. "An entire book would not be enough. They gave my son his hope back. The America we knew was one that came, bombed, harmed. But when this organization came forward, we saw another face of America."

The Global Medical Relief Fund, a small charity based in New York that helps children of war and natural disasters, has arranged for surgery and treatment at the Shriners Children Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Elissa Montanti, the founder and director of the organization, says she was inspired to act when she first heard of Mohammed's tragic story. "I said, 'Oh, please, let me help this boy.' "

Mohammed will arrive in the United States on Thursday afternoon. He will be fitted for a prosthetic leg in coming weeks and examined to see if he needs additional surgery. Montanti said her organization has a list of other young Iraqi children in need of help. "The word needs to get out."

Asked how it makes her feel to help Mohammed, she says, "It makes me cry with joy."

Mohammed, too, is ecstatic. "I didn't think this act of human kindness would be presented to me," he says. "I didn't have hope in Iraq -- hope that I would ever get my hope back. I didn't have a future."

He adds, "I want to go to America and meet this person that gave me my future back."

When he comes back home, he wants to help rebuild Falluja, starting with his school, which was bombed during the 2004 Falluja offensive.

"I will never leave school and, God willing, I will continue my education and become an architect and build all the schools," he says, standing on his crutches.

But first, he says, he wants to walk

charity director says helping the boy makes her what

where is he heading to get the prosthetic leg

What boy that was 12 lost his leg in a car bombing in Iraq?

What did the boy lose in the car bombing?

What boy quoted "I want to... meet this person that gave me my future back"?

Answer: me cry with joy."

Answer: prosthetic

Answer: explosion

Answer: United States.

Answer: United States.

Answer: Mohammed Rasoul,

Answer: explosion

Answer: his leg and his childhood.

Answer: right leg severed below the knee,

Answer: Mohammed,

Answer: died on the scene.

Answer: Twelve-year-old

Summary:
Boy, 12, lost leg to car bombing in Iraq; cousin was killed by blast .
He is now heading to the United States to get a prosthetic leg .
Boy: "I want to ... meet this person that gave me my future back"
Charity director says helping the boy makes her "cry with joy"


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Two UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters collided Saturday night while landing in northern Baghdad, killing one Iraqi soldier, a U.S. military spokesman said.

Two UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters, similar to this, crashed Saturday in northern Baghdad, the U.S. military says.

Two U.S. troops and two Iraqi soldiers were injured, said military spokesman Lt. Patrick Evans.

Enemy fire is not suspected, he said.

However, two Interior Ministry officials said that a U.S. helicopter crashed in northeastern Baghdad as a result of clashes between U.S.-backed Iraqi forces and gunmen.

The Iraqi officials said the area was sealed off, so they did not know casualty figures.

One Iraqi official said the gunfight continued late into the night.

U.S. officials said they did not know how many people were onboard.

The crash occurred at Combat Outpost Ford in Adhamiya, a northern Baghdad neighborhood on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, the U.S. spokesman said.

An Iraqi official said the helicopter went down in Talbiya, a stronghold of Shiite militia.

Number of Blackhawk helicopters that crashed?

What did the Interior Ministry official say?

In what city were the helicopters landing?

Which country's Interior Ministry was quoted?

Where were the helicopters trying to land in Iraq?

How many people were killed in this incident?

Answer: Two

Answer: a U.S. helicopter crashed in northeastern Baghdad as

Answer: Baghdad,

Answer: UH-60 Blackhawk

Answer: Two UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters

Answer: UH-60 Blackhawk

Answer: Two U.S. troops and two Iraqi soldiers

Answer: Iraqi

Answer: that a U.S. helicopter crashed in northeastern Baghdad as a result of clashes between U.S.-backed Iraqi forces and gunmen.

Answer: Baghdad,

Answer: one

Answer: one

Summary:
Two Blackhawk helicopters crashed while landing in Baghdad, U.S. military says .
Iraqi soldier killed; coalition soldiers, Iraqi troops are among the injured .
Interior Ministry officials say one helicopter crashed during military clashes .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Two attacks on Christian families in the city of Kirkuk on Sunday evening left three people dead and two others wounded, police said. Due to persecution, Christians in Iraq have had to rely on Iraqi security forces, as shown here on Easter Sunday. The first occurred in a neighborhood in southern Kirkuk when a Christian woman and her daughter-in-law were murdered in their home late night Sunday. Police told CNN the attackers slit the women's throats. In a neighborhood close by, gunmen attacked a Christian family in their home, shooting a father and his three sons, police said. One of the sons died instantly and the other son and the father were wounded. Many of Iraq's estimated 1 million Christians have fled the country after targeted attacks by extremists. In October, more than a thousand Iraqi families fled the northern city of Mosul after they were reportedly frightened by a series of killings and threats by Muslim extremists, who apparently ordered them to convert to Islam or face possible death. At least 14 Christians were killed in Mosul in the first two weeks of October. Kirkuk is 150 miles (240 km) north of Baghdad.

How many Christians have fled the country?

Who had their throats slit in their home?

What neighborhood did the shooting take place?

What was the religion of the woman and daughter who were killed?

Answer: Christian family in their home,

Answer: extremists.

Answer: of Iraq's estimated 1 million

Answer: Christian families

Answer: 1 million

Answer: southern Kirkuk

Answer: Christian

Answer: Christian

Answer: a Christian woman and her daughter-in-law were murdered in

Summary:
Christian woman and her daughter-in-law's throats slit in their home late Sunday .
In nearby neighborhood in Kirkuk, gunmen shoot father and three sons; one dies .
Targeted by extremists, many of Iraq's 1 million Christians have fled country .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Two bombings in separate Iraq provinces on Monday killed eight U.S. troops, the U.S. military said. A boy with a machine gun weeps Monday at the site of a suicide bombing in Kanan that killed a sheik. A roadside bomb killed three U.S. soldiers and an interpreter in Diyala province, which has been a major front in the war during the "surge" of U.S. troops fighting insurgents near the capital. Earlier in the day, at least five U.S. soldiers on foot patrol were killed and three others wounded in a suicide bombing in Baghdad. In addition, suicide bombers killed five Iraqis in two bombings in Diyala province Monday morning, including a sheik who helped battle Sunni extremists and his 5-year-old niece.  Watch new suicide tactics in Iraq » Four U.S. soldiers died at the scene Monday's Baghdad blast and one more died later of wounds, the military said. They were with Multi-National Division-Baghdad. An Iraqi interpreter also was wounded in the explosion, the officials said. Initial reports indicate the bomber was wearing an explosive vest. "Five soldiers paid the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of the Iraqi and American people. I ask you remember these fallen heroes and their families as well as their wounded brethren in your thoughts and prayers," said Col. Allen Batschelet, chief of staff for Multi-National Division-Baghdad. "We remain resolute in our resolve to protect the people of Iraq and kill or capture those who would bring them harm." The explosion marks the deadliest attack against the U.S. military since five soldiers were killed January 28 in a roadside bombing in Mosul. Troops killed a Saudi insurgent whose network was responsible for that attack. Earlier, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said one person was killed and eight people were wounded in a suicide bomb attack targeting a U.S. military convoy in western Baghdad. It is not clear if the U.S. and Iraqi reports are about the same incident. Monday's attacks would bring the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq this month to 10. A total of 3,983 military personnel have died in the nearly 5-year-old war. The attack came after a bomber near Baquba targeted the leader of a security group assisting U.S. troops. The teen suicide bomber killed a sheik and a 5-year-old, a day after she went to the sheik's Kanan home claiming to need help finding her husband, police and family members said. The female suicide bomber, 18, blew herself up at the sheik's home Monday morning, police said. The tribal leader was the head of a local citizens group that has been working with U.S. forces to rout out insurgents. The largely Sunni security groups are known as Awakening Councils. Kanan is east of Baquba, situated in the volatile Diyala province, which has been a major front for the "surge" of U.S.-led troops targeting militants near Baghdad. According to one of the sheik's cousins, the teen bomber went to the sheik's house Sunday to ask him for help finding her husband -- thought to be kidnapped or detained. The 18-year-old was told to return Monday, the cousin said. She returned Monday and staged the attack, killing the sheik, his 5-year-old niece and one of his security guards, police said. The attack reflects both the growing use of females as suicide bombers in Iraq and the targeting of Awakening Councils, which are also known as Concerned Citizens Groups or Sons of Iraq. The grass-roots groups, which are sometimes led by former insurgents, have drawn more than 90,000 volunteers to their ranks, military spokesman Rear Adm. Gregory said Sunday. Since November, there have been at least five attacks carried out by female suicide bombers, including a twin bombing at Baghdad pet markets last month that killed almost 100 people. Insurgent groups, particularly al Qaeda in Iraq, are increasingly using women as suicide bombers because they are less likely to be searched, the U.S. military has said. About an hour after the attack at the sheik's home, another suicide bomber approached Iraqi security forces in

What number of US soldiers died on patrol?

When was the last comparably deadly attack?

Answer: at least five

Answer: three U.S. soldiers and an interpreter

Answer: Two bombings in separate Iraq provinces

Answer: January 28

Answer: Kanan

Answer: Diyala province,

Answer: roadside bomb

Answer: female

Answer: eight U.S. troops,

Answer: a sheik and a 5-year-old,

Answer: Baghdad.

Summary:
NEW: Roadside bomb kills 3 U.S. soldiers and an interpreter in Diyala province .
Earlier, at least 5 U.S. soldiers on foot patrol die in Baghdad suicide bombing .
Baghdad blast marks deadliest attack on U.S. troops since January 28 .
Female suicide bomber kills sheik, 5-year-old niece and guard at Iraqi home .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon paid a visit to Baghdad on Friday to congratulate its citizens for last weekend's "remarkable" Iraq-led provincial elections, a process he said "augurs well for the transition process and the solidifying of Iraq's national reconciliation." U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, left, meets Friday in Baghdad with Iraq President Jalal Talabani. On a tour that also has taken him to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Ban met with Iraqi leaders and appeared at a news conference with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, whose allies won big in nine of the 14 provinces where the local elections were held. "I have been following the electoral process closely from the early days of the parliamentary debate over the elections law last summer to the final stages of adjudication of the complaints and yesterday evening's release of the provisional results," Ban said at the news conference, according to prepared remarks issued by the United Nations. "It will be some days before final results are known, but current indications are that the elections have been successfully carried out." Ban last visited Iraq in 2007. In March of that year, he got a taste of the violence that often rocks the Iraqi capital. An explosion rattled Baghdad's International Zone, where he was holding a televised news conference with al-Maliki. Apparently used to such blasts, al-Maliki remained stoic, while Ban briefly ducked before regaining his composure and continuing. Now, he said, he's "very much impressed to have witnessed myself the great success and progress the Iraqi government and people have made under the leadership of Prime Minister Maliki, and I congratulate you," he said, emphasizing the improvements in security. The secretary-general praised the turnout of millions of voters in "an environment free of violence," a development he called a "remarkable achievement" in a strife-torn nation. "Iraq has come a long way in taking their own affairs in hand, this being the first Iraqi-led and Iraqi-owned electoral process. It is a tribute to the growing effectiveness of the Iraqi security forces, and testifies to the increasing stability in the country," he said. Ban praised Iraqi election officials, the local U.N. office and its special representative, Staffan de Mistura, and election workers. Voters in 14 of 18 provinces turned out last weekend to elect provincial councils. The nation's three Kurdish provinces will hold elections in May, and voting in Tameem province has been suspended because of political disputes in Kirkuk. "This marks an important event, these being the first polls to affect the day-to-day lives of Iraqi voters," Ban said. "In fact, these elections are about real power, in the sense that local leaders are nominated to be accountable for the delivery of basic services." The United Nations helped Iraq with logistics in its election process and plans to help in this year's parliamentary elections and to deal with sticky disputes, such as the status of Kirkuk and disputes over some internal boundaries. Al-Maliki thanked the United Nations for the supportive role it played. He noted that the provincial elections "changed the political map" of Iraq, but he said the elections were successful for all Iraqis. He said he was proud people voted for blocs based on political goals and not along sectarian and ethnic lines. Ban also met with the three members of the presidency council -- Kurdish President Jalal Talabani, Shiite Vice President Adel Abdul Mehdi and Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi. CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq and Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this report.

What number of provinces turned out to cast ballots?

Where did the UN secretary - general  visit

U.N. secretary-general visits which location?

Answer: Baghdad

Answer: Al-Maliki

Answer: 14

Answer: Baghdad

Answer: the United Nations

Answer: Baghdad

Answer: 2007.

Answer: Ban Ki-moon

Summary:
U.N. secretary-general visits Iraq, lauds "remarkable" elections there .
Ban Ki-Moon last visited Iraq in 2007, when violence was still raging .
Voters in 14 of 18 provinces turned out last weekend to cast ballots .
Iraq prime minister thanks United Nations for assistance, support .