Seven Dead As Daytime Curfew Lifted In Baghdad

An Iraqi police officer stands guard in central Baghdad today (epa) 27 February 2006 -- There has been further violence in Baghdad in both Sunni and Shi'ite areas of the city.

The new incidents occurred as Iraqi authorities lifted the daytime curfew on the city imposed to prevent sectarian bloodshed. Overnight curfews remain in force all over the country.

Police said that today a motorcycle packed with explosives detonated outside a Sunni mosque in eastern Baghdad, killing at least three people and injuring 11.

Police also said that four people were killed and 13 wounded by the mortar bomb that hit the Shi'ite Shola district of the mainly Sunni west of the city.

Iraq's Defense Ministry said security forces had killed 35 "terrorists" and detained 487 suspects since 22 February, when the Golden Mosque in Samarra was attacked.

Iraq's main Sunni parliament bloc says it is ready to end its boycott on talks on a new government under some conditions. The leader of the National Accordance Front, Adnan al-Dulaimi, said the main condition is the return of Sunni mosques allegedly seized by Shi'ites.

(compiled from agency reports)