by Dhia Hamid
SAMARRA, Iraq - At least 25 people, most of them Iraqi soldiers, were killed in a series of attacks Monday as the main political factions moved to finalise a deal on a new governing coalition more than five weeks after historic elections.
The worst bloodshed happened in Balad, north of Baghdad, when a suicide bomber blew up his vehicle at the home of an Iraqi army officer, killing 15 people, who included at least two soldiers, and wounding 23, police said.
In recent days, Iraqi commandos and US troops have stepped up operations in the area, a known stronghold of Sunni Arab insurgents, in search of suspects who might lead them to the country's most wanted man, Al-Qaeda frontman Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
The Jordanian-born militant is blamed for some of the deadliest bombings since the 2003 US-led invasion, as well as executions of foreign hostages.
His group was quick to take credit in an internet statement for a separate attack on an Iraqi army checkpoint south of Balad that left five soldiers and one assailant dead.
The US military said the operation involved "20 terrorists" aboard five vehicles.
Further east, in the city of Baquba, four people were killed, including two policemen, when a car bomb was detonated as officers passed on their way to the checkpoint attack, police said.
Another 11 people were wounded.
The fledgling Iraqi security forces have come under relentless attack from insurgents determined to derail US plans to hand over security responsibility and pave the way for a withdrawal of foreign troops two years after the invasion.
In Amman, relatives of Jordanian businessman Ibrahim Maharmeh revealed that he had been abducted in Baghdad Friday "by a gang which has demanded 250,000 dollars in ransom."
The news came as Italy held a state funeral for an intelligence agent who died trying to shield journalist Giuliana Sgrena from US bullets as she was brought to safety after a month-long hostage ordeal.
Nicola Calipari, 50, has been hailed as a national "hero" and "martyr" for his role in saving the Il Manifesto correspondent, who was wounded in the shooting near Baghdad airport.
Mourners applauded as Calipari's coffin was carried into a Rome basilica by pallbearers representing Italy's armed services after a bugler played the Last Post.
Sgrena wrote in her paper that her captors had warned her that the Americans did not want her to be released.
But initial inquiries by Italian magistrates have yielded no evidence to support the allegation that US troops fired on her deliberately, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.
A spokesman for US-led forces declined to comment on the allegation specifically, but said Sgrena's speeding convoy had failed to stop when US soldiers flashed lights and fired repeated warning shots.
Washington has promised a full investigation into the killing, which has fanned opposition in Italy to the right-wing government's 3,000-strong troop deployment in Iraq.
Bulgarian Defence Minister Nikolai Svinarov meanwhile revealed that a serviceman killed on Friday was the victim of "friendly fire" by a US soldier.
Sofia has 450 soldiers currently in Iraq and had already announced that the deployment would be reviewed later this month.
In political developments, representatives of the Shiite and Kurdish blocs, that swept January's election, met again Monday to finalise an agreement on a new governing coalition ahead of the first session of parliament, set for March 16.
"In my opinion, we will reach a final agreement before the first session," Hussein Shahristani, a leading member of the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance told AFP.
He declined to reveal details of the emerging deal.
The Shiite list won 140 of the 275 seats in the national assembly but needs a two-thirds majority to approve a new government. The Kurdish Alliance won 77 seats.
Reports suggested that the Shiites had secured Kurdish support with an undertaking to respect the interim constitution adopted under US-led occupation last year and its provisions for handling Kurdish claims to the northern oil centre of Kirkuk.
Shahristani said the Shiites had also offered a role to outgoing Prime Minister Iyad Allawi but that he had refused.
"We did not offer him a specific position but more the principle of participation," said Jawad al-Maliky of the Dawa party, a religious faction whose leader Ibrahim Jaafari is the Shiites' candidate for prime minister.
"He told us 'I will not take part but I will help you in crossing to the opposite river bank'."
An official of Allawi's Iraqi National Accord party denied that the outgoing premier was prepared to be a junior partner in a new governing coalition.
"He will not accept any post but the premiership in any government he joins," Hani Idris said.

03/07/2005 13:54 GMT