Iraq car bomb kills 10 in market

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At least 10 people have been killed in a bomb attack in the town of Suweira south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

A car bomb was detonated near a bank in the marketplace of the mixed Sunni-Shia town, also wounding at least 15 people.

In Baghdad itself, a policeman was killed when two roadside bombs exploded near a bank in the centre of the city.

The Islamic fasting month of Ramadan has seen an upsurge in insurgency attacks on US-led coalition forces as well as other forms of violence.

West of the capital, two American marines were killed in fighting in the restive Anbar province, a US statement said.

A second statement said an army soldier was killed on Sunday night in a roadside bombing north of Baghdad.

About 60 American soldiers have been killed so far this month.

Saddam verdict

The violence comes as officials for the court trying former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein said a verdict may be announced on 5 November.

It is the first of two cases brought against Saddam Hussein. Along with seven co-defendants, he is accused of crimes against humanity in connection with a crackdown on a Shia Muslim town in the 1980s.

A conviction could carry the death penalty.

A second trial is under way, including a genocide charge against Saddam Hussein, related to a campaign against the Kurds in late 1980s.

The BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says there has been a rash of sectarian killings in mixed areas to the north and south of Baghdad.

Worst hit was the town of Balad, where a curfew was imposed after dozens were killed in tit-for-tat killings between Sunni and Shia Muslims.

Police and army officials were quoted on Monday saying the death toll in Balad had risen to at least 91.

The bloodshed began with the slayings of 17 Shia workers on Friday. Police said members of the Mehdi Army militia, loyal to radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr, had moved in and were killing Sunnis in retaliation.