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BAGHDAD | A stepped-up campaign by Iraq’s prime minister against Saddam Hussein loyalists is alienating Sunni Muslims and stoking tensions between them and the majority Shiites ahead of key national elections.
The latest Department of Defense identifications of casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq: •Army Spc. Joseph M. Lewis, 26, of Terrell, Texas, died Nov. 17 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, when his vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive.
WASHINGTON | Army Lt. Col. Dominic “Rocky” Baragona was killed in Iraq on the very day he was going home. He was en route from Baghdad to Kuwait City when a tractor-trailer jackknifed across the highway and crushed his Humvee.
BAGHDAD | Gunmen in Iraqi army uniforms abducted and killed 13 people whose bodies were found Monday with gunshot wounds to the head. The dead included a local leader of Iraq’s largest Sunni party, which once helped fight al-Qaida.
The latest U.S. Defense Department identification of casualties: •Marine Lance Cpl. Justin J. Swanson, 21, of Anaheim, Calif., died Nov. 10 supporting combat in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
BAGHDAD | After nearly a dozen delays, Iraq’s Parliament on Sunday passed a law setting national elections for January, averting a political crisis that threatened the country’s progress toward stability. Approval of the law after a final rowdy session eases a growing source of concern for the Obama administration. President Barack Obama is considering sending 34,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, and successful elections in Iraq are key to a major reduction in U.S. combat forces in the country by next summer.
The latest U.S. Defense Department identification of casualties: •Army Staff Sgt. Amy C. Tirador, 29, of Albany, N.Y., died Nov. 4 in Kirkush, Iraq, of injuries suffered in an incident unrelated to combat.
BAGHDAD | A man being questioned in connection with last week’s deadly double bombings in the Iraqi capital was able to seize a gun and kill an investigative officer before being shot himself, the government said Saturday. The man, who was not identified, snatched a gun from a guard and wounded the guard, then killed the investigative officer during the interrogation in the officer’s Interior Ministry office, the ministry said in a Web site statement.
The latest Department of Defense identifications of casualties: •Marine Lance Cpl. Cody R. Stanley, 21, of Rosanky, Texas, died on foot patrol Oct. 28 when a enemy bomb was triggered in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
BAGHDAD | A long-sought political consensus in Iraq over how to conduct crucial upcoming elections fell apart Tuesday over the thorny issue of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, an Iraqi lawmaker said. The new snag came as an al-Qaida-linked group claimed responsibility for the twin suicide bombings Sunday in the heart of Baghdad that killed at least 155 people. Many fear the political deadlock over the new law will delay elections, now slated for January, and open the door to renewed violence.

BAGHDAD | Suicide bombers in cars packed with explosives killed at least 132 people and wounded more than 500 outside Iraqi government buildings Sunday morning in nearly simultaneous blasts that were powerful even by Baghdad’s grim standards. The bombings were the deadliest since April 2007, according to casualty figures released by Iraqi authorities, and they drew particular outrage because they struck at cabinet ministries and city government offices that are supposed to be especially secure.