SUICIDE BOMBERS WRECK ALL THE PRAISE ABOUT HOW WELL THINGS ARE GOING IN IRAQ

Praise for Iraq marred by suicide-bomber attacks

WORLD leaders, including UN chief Ban Ki-moon and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, have hailed Iraq's "remarkable" progress in easing violence.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23785281-2703,00.html

But the declaration by 100 international delegations in Stockholm was clouded yesterday after a suicide bomber smashed a police base in the north and another blew up a patrol, killing 20 people as a pro-government militia killed 15 suspected al-Qa'ida fighters.

A man wearing an explosives-packed jacket blew himself up at police headquarters in Sinjar, a town on the road to Syria from the main northern city of Mosul. A hospital source said 17 people were killed and 30 wounded.

The surge in violence came as the US military announced plans to withdraw 4000 more troops after saying violence was at a four-year low.

The US army also confirmed 115 soldiers on active duty committed suicide last year, the most in one year since records started in 1980. Nearly a thousand soldiers attempted suicide.

The spike came amid the highest US casualties in Iraq and increased violence in Afghanistan, but officials said the trend had continued into this year.