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Car bombs kill 13 Iraqis ahead of key UN vote

Two car bomb attacks killed 13 Iraqis and a US soldier yesterday ahead of a UN Security Council vote that was expected to approve a resolution on the country's move from occupation to sovereignty.

In the northern city of Mosul, three men in a taxi blew up their vehicle near the mayor's office, witnesses said. The US military said at least nine Iraqis were killed and 25 wounded.

Some bodies were charred beyond recognition.

An hour earlier, a car bomb exploded outside a US base in the town of Baquba, 65km north of Baghdad, killing four Iraqis and a US soldier. Eleven Iraqis were wounded.

US officials say they expect a surge of guerrilla attacks ahead of the formal handover of sovereignty to an Iraqi government on June 30. Discussions at the Security Council on a resolution endorsing the political process have been complicated by international wrangling and by divisions within Iraq.

France said on Tuesday it would back the latest draft resolution on Iraq after its US-British sponsors made last-minute adjustments on military policy.

The US and Britain have called for the 15-nation Security Council to vote on the resolution later yesterday.

France, which has veto power on the council, said it would vote in favor, even though it was not fully satisfied.

"This will not prevent us giving a positive vote in New York to constructively help find a positive way out of this tragedy," Foreign Minister Michel Barnier told France Inter radio.

Most diplomats expect a unanimous 15-0 vote for the resolution, which gives international legitimacy to a newly formed Iraqi interim government and authorizes a US-led multinational force, now at 160,000 troops.

"We think this is an excellent resolution," US Ambassador John Negroponte said. "Iraq is entering into a new political phase, one where it is reasserting its full sovereignty."

The Bush administration was keen for a vote early this week so that disputes over the resolution did not overshadow a G8 summit in Sea Island, Georgia.

At issue was how much control Baghdad's new leaders would have over major US-run military operations after June 30.

Meanwhile, coalition forces freed three Italians and a Polish contractor and captured their kidnappers in a raid on the outskirts of Baghdad last night, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi said.

Just before word came from the Italian government, the commander of the Polish-led multinational force, General Miecyzslaw Bienek, said that the three Italians and a Polish contractor were freed by US special forces.

The hostage-takers "certainly were captured," Berlusconi told private TG5 TV. "The operation was carried out without bloodshed" after the hideout was under observation for a few days, he said.
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