Fresh violence rocked Baghdad with a US military convoy hit by a roadside bomb and an Iraqi judge and his driver shot dead as international pressure was growing on Iraqi leaders to reach an agreement on a draft constitution.
According to AFP, a US military statement said four soldiers were killed. The blast took place in Samarra, some 120 km north of Baghdad.
Elsewhere, two Iraqi kids and a man were killed while two other wounded in a car explosion in Fallujah.
Meanwhile, Iraqi politicians working on the constitution said officials from the United Nations and Britain were now ready to help Iraq complete the process, in addition to the Americans.
"It has now become a question of who is stronger -- the politicians or the insurgents," said Kurdish constitution committee member Mahmud Othman, according to AFP.
