Iraqi Al-Qaida Claims Attack That Kills 20

BAGHDAD - An al-Qaida in Iraq front organization claimed responsibility Saturday for a suicide bombing that killed more than 20 people - including a Marine from North Miami Beach - as the U.S. military stepped up pressure on extremists in northern Iraq.

The Islamic State of Iraq posted the claim on a militant Web site, saying the bomber blew himself up among a gathering of the "heads of apostasy" - a reference to U.S.-backed Sunni tribal leaders who were attending a meeting Thursday in Karmah, 20 miles west of Baghdad.

"They sold their souls to the American devil for a cheap price," the statement said. "Therefore, the soldiers of the Islamic State of Iraq have launched an open war against them."

The dead included the commander of Marines in the area, Lt. Col. Max A. Galeai of Pago Pago, American Samoa, as well as the mayor of Karmah, several key tribal figures and two interpreters, U.S. and Iraqi officials said.

Also killed was Corp. Marcus Preudhomme, 23, of North Miami Beach, who was an administrative clerk deployed from Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

It could not be determined if the statement was actually issued by the Islamic State, which is an Iraqi al-Qaida-controlled coalition of Sunni extremist groups.

However, U.S. officials suspected al-Qaida in Iraq was behind the attack as part of a campaign of revenge against Sunni community leaders who turned against the terrorist movement and cooperated with U.S. and Iraqi authorities.

The Sunni revolt against the movement, which gained steam two years ago, cost al-Qaida much of its base in vast Anbar province, the heartland of Iraqi's Sunni Arab community and former center-stage of the Sunni insurgency against U.S.-led coalition forces.

The Karmah attack happened two days before U.S. officials planned to formally hand over security responsibility for Anbar to the Iraqis - a sign of the security transformation in the largest of Iraq's 18 provinces.

Elsewhere, the U.S. command said American and Iraqi soldiers stepped up pressure this weekend on al-Qaida in Iraq and other Sunni militants across northern Iraq.

Two militants were killed in a gunfight in Sharqat, about 170 miles north of Baghdad, the military said in a statement. One of the dead was identified as a wanted member of a network that carries out bombings, the military said.

Eight others were apprehended.

A third suspected militant was killed Saturday in nearby Kirkuk during a raid on a cell thought to have carried out kidnappings.

ALSO IN IRAQ

•Republican John McCain and Iraq's president said Saturday that the war-ravaged country is making significant but fragile progress.

The GOP presidential nominee-in-waiting expressed confidence about prospects for the two countries completing a complex agreement that would keep U.S. troops in Iraq after a U.N. mandate expires at the end of the year. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said an American military presence still was needed.

•Senior Iraqi government officials said Saturday that a U.S. Special Forces counterterrorism unit conducted the Friday raid that killed a relative of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, touching off a high-stakes diplomatic crisis between the United States and Iraq. U.S. military officials in Baghdad had no comment.

•Iraq's government says it will allocate about $8 million for a fourth state-run oil company. Maysan Oil Co. will manage operations to explore, develop, produce and export oil and gas in the Maysan province.

The new company will be formed by reorganizing the Maysan Oil and Gas Commission after splitting it from the Basra-based Southern Oil Company. The plan must be approved by parliament, then ratified by Iraq's presidential council.

Sources: The Associated Press; McClatchy-Tribune