Iraq suicide bomber kills dozens

At least 27 people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack on a police headquarters in the Iraqi city of Baquba, north of Baghdad, police say.

At least 20 people were hurt. Most victims were police recruits.

Correspondents say the attack bears the hallmarks of militants al-Qaeda in Iraq, who often target recruits.

Baquba is the capital of Diyala province, where some local tribes have recently joined US and Iraqi forces to fight the group.

On Sunday, nine tribal leaders from Diyala province were kidnapped while returning from Baghdad.

Violence levels falling

Police said the bomber arrived at the scene of the attack on a bicycle dressed in civilian clothes concealing a suicide belt.

He blew himself up as recruits waited to begin the day's training session.

Baquba's chief of police was killed in a suicide attack last month.

The September attack happened in a mosque compound during reconciliation talks between Sunni and Shia groups.

But the Jim Muir in Baghdad says levels of violence have generally been falling since a US troop surge began in February.

The US was set to hand over the mainly Shia central province of Karbala to Iraqi control on Monday.

It will be the eighth of 18 provinces to be transferred to local control since the US-led invasion in 2003.

US threat over Iraq embassy staff

The US state department has said it may have to force some diplomats to work in Iraq to fill vacancies at the embassy in Baghdad.

About 250 foreign service staff are to be told they are "prime candidates" for nearly 50 jobs, state department human resources director Harry Thomas said.

If too few people volunteer, some will be ordered to go and risk dismissal if they refuse, Mr Thomas said.

Iraq postings have previously been filled on a voluntary basis.

Vietnam precedent

Mr Thomas said he hoped enough diplomats would volunteer to fill the one-year postings but that "we have many options, including dismissal from the foreign service".

The "prime candidates" will be informed by post on Monday and have 10 days to reply.

To sweeten the deal, an attractive financial package is being offered as well as a generous leave allowance.

The Baghdad embassy is considered a hardship posting by US diplomats because of the security risks and because spouses and children must be left at home.

American diplomats have been forced to work in undesirable postings before.

Some were given no choice but to take postings in some African countries in the 1970s and 1980s and in 1969 an entire class of new foreign service officers was sent to Vietnam.

US reins in Iraq security firms

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has ordered new measures to improve government oversight of private security contractors used in Iraq.

It follows a review by an independent panel ordered after an incident last month involving the US firm Blackwater, in which some 17 Iraqi civilians died.

The steps include tightening the state department's rules of engagement so they are line with the military's.

Contractors will also have to undergo improved cultural awareness training.

There will also be better co-ordination with the US military and tighter restrictions on the use of force.

Boards will be set up to investigate any future killings involving private contractors in Iraq, and will have to power to refer cases to the US justice department.

Contractors will also have to have Arabic speakers on hand.

'Strained relations'

Ms Rice, who was briefed on the report on Monday "has decided to move ahead with the recommendations that are within her purview to act on immediately", state department official Patrick Kennedy said.

Mr Kennedy, who led the review panel, said its recommendations would clarify the rules of engagement for private contractors.

The panel has emphasised that they should open fire only with "due regard for the safety of innocent bystanders".

However, its recommendations focus on management and policy relating to security contractors rather than any possible wrongdoing by Blackwater or others, Mr Kennedy told reporters.

"Prompt measures should be taken to strengthen the co-ordination, oversight and accountability aspects of the state department's security practices in Iraq in order to reduce the likelihood that future incidents will occur," the report said.

'Strained relations

State department spokesman Sean McCormack said earlier that some of the review panel's recommendations would require co-ordination with the Pentagon.

Ms Rice is expected to meet Defence Secretary Robert Gates later this week to discuss those changes.

Earlier this month, Ms Rice ordered that a member of the state department's own security staff accompany all Blackwater-escorted diplomatic convoys and that video cameras be installed in the firm's security vehicles.

The Blackwater incident in Baghdad strained relations with Iraq and forced the state department to act, the BBC's Jonathan Beale in Washington says.

An Iraqi government investigation concluded that Blackwater guards fired on civilians without provocation.

Iraqi leaders have that demanded the US government end its association with Blackwater in Iraq within six months and hand over the contractors involved in the 16 September incident.

Blackwater's chairman, Erik Prince, has insisted he has proof that the firm's guards were fired upon and has defended its record before the US Congress.

US officials have released few details of the incident, as it is subject to an investigation by the FBI.

Turkish diplomatic push over PKK

Turkey has said it will exhaust all diplomatic solutions before sending troops into Iraq to stop cross-border attacks by Kurdish PKK fighters.

Foreign Minister Ali Babacan made the announcement as he prepared to travel to Baghdad for talks with senior Iraqis, including PM Nouri Maliki.

The US has again urged Iraq to take swift action against the insurgents to forestall the threatened Turkish raids.

Turkey's UN envoy has warned that his country's patience has its limits.

The PKK has reportedly claimed to have captured several Turkish troops following an attack on Sunday that left 12 soldiers dead. The Turkish military has only confirmed that eight soldiers are still missing.

There has been expectation in Iraq that the PKK will shortly announce a ceasefire, but previous truces have not been acknowledged by Turkey.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is meeting his UK counterpart, Gordon Brown, in London on Tuesday for scheduled talks.

'What other option?'

Mr Babacan has been on a tour of the Middle East to set out Ankara's position.

THE PKK Formed in late 1970s Launched armed struggle in 1984 Dropped independence demands in 1990s Wants greater autonomy for Turkey's Kurds Leader Abdullah Ocalan arrested in 1999 Ended five-year ceasefire in 2004

"Our preference is diplomacy but the military option is no doubt a method in the struggle against terrorism," he said in Ankara on Monday night.

Turkey's envoy to the UN, Baki Ilkin, told the BBC that Turkish patience would not last for ever.

"Iraq has to do something," he said on the World Tonight programme on Radio Four.

"...We have incursions into Turkish territory. We cannot get our hands on them, because they immediately go back to northern Iraq...

"If we can't put our hands on these... terrorists while they are in Turkey, what option do we have?"

Speaking at an Oxford University debate on Monday night, Prime Minister Erdogan reportedly said cross-border military action might be taken "in the next few days" in the absence of "expected developments".

Co-operation pledge

Speaking via a secure video link between the White House and Baghdad on Monday, Mr Maliki agreed with Mr Bush to "work together, in co-operation with the Turkish government, to prevent the PKK from using any part of Iraqi territory to plan or carry out terrorist attacks", a White House statement said.

HAVE YOUR SAY Turkey should join the coalition and handle the security in Northern Iraq Jeff Fogltance, Ontario, United States

"We want the Iraqi government to take swift action to stop the activity of the PKK," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said afterwards.

"We do not want to see wider military action on the northern border."

Mr Bush also spoke to Turkish President Abdullah Gul, telling him of his "deep concern" at recent PKK attacks.

Earlier, the office of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, himself a Kurd, said the PKK would offer a truce shortly.

Sunday's deadly PKK ambush near the Iraqi border has inflamed public opinion in Turkey, with the media and opposition leaders calling for immediate strikes against the rebels.

Last week, the Turkish parliament approved raids into Iraq and up to 100,000 soldiers, backed by tanks, fighter jets and helicopters, have been deployed along the border.

PKK sources reported heavy Turkish shelling of rebel positions after Sunday's ambush but there were no reports of an incursion.

Iraq provinces 'limit refugees'

The UN refugee agency has said the options for Iraqis fleeing violence are being narrowed by an increasing number of provinces refusing them entry.

The head of the UNHCR Iraq Support Unit told the BBC up to 11 governors were restricting access because they lacked resources to look after the refugees.

Andrew Harper warned that, with no imminent end to the displacement, Iraq was becoming a "pressure cooker".

The UNHCR recently said more than 2.2m Iraqis had become internally displaced.

It estimates a further 2.2m have fled to neighbouring states, particularly Syria and Jordan, since the US-led invasion in 2003.

'Pressure cooker'

In an interview with the BBC, Mr Harper said Iraqi authorities had been overwhelmed by the scope of the internal refugee problem and did not have the resources to cope.

The possibility for Iraqis to find safety and find is becoming increasingly restricted Andrew Harper UNHCR Iraq Support Unit

He said the governors of up to 11 provinces - out of 18 in the country - had reacted to the crisis by blocking internal migrants from entering their territory, or denying them food and education if they do get in.

"We are seeing an increasing number of governorates closing their borders or restricting entry to new arrivals," he said.

"And so we have a pressure cooker building up inside Iraq - there is no imminent end to the displacement," he added.

"The possibility for Iraqis to find safety and find is becoming increasingly restricted. So, where they can move is becoming over-populated and intense."

WHERE IRAQIS HAVE FLED TO Syria: 1,400,000 Jordan: 750,000 Gulf states: 200,000 Egypt: 100,000 Iran: 54,000 Lebanon: 40,000 Turkey: 10,000 Internally displaced: 2,250,000 Source: UNHCR

Mr Harper said the UNHCR had raised the problem with the Iraqi central government in Baghdad, but it was told that local authorities had been urged not to turn away Iraqis fleeing other parts of the country.

The 4.4m Iraqi refugees fleeing the violence and turmoil in the country, Mr Harper said, were the biggest challenge facing the UNHCR and the international community at the moment.

He said the figures were increasing on average by up to 100,000 every month.

In Diyala province, local aid workers have said they have been unable to reach thousands of families, including displaced refugees, because of the serious security situation.

Mr Harper's warning comes at a time when Iraq's neighbours have more or less closed their borders to Iraqi refugees, saying they can no longer cope with the strain on their resources.