Two Suicide Bombings in Iraq Kill at Least 25

Iraqi police say two suicide bombings south of Baghdad have killed at least 25 people and wounded at least 100 others.
The attacks Monday occurred outside a government building in the town of Hillah (95 kilometers from the capital). Officials say the bombers blew themselves up in a crowd of former Iraqi police commandos protesting a decision to disband their unit.
The bombings came as U.S.-backed Iraqi troops searched houses and set up checkpoints around Baghdad in an operation to root out insurgents.
The al-Qaida network in Iraq, led by wanted Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, says it has launched an offensive in response to the operation.
In another development, Iraq's main Sunni political party (the Iraqi Islamic Party) says U.S. troops arrested its leader, Mohsen Abdul-Hamid, and his three sons today at their home in Baghdad. U.S. military officials could not confirm the arrests.