A suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a police fuel depot in central Baghdad, killing at least 12 policemen.

At least five other bombings in Baghdad and other attacks around the country brought the death toll to 44.

Figures from the Health Ministry showed that 1,536 died from violence in Baghdad last month, roughly the same figure that was reported by the Government for July.

But the US military continued to insist that violence had fallen by half in the capital since July thanks to a security crackdown.

The nephew of Iraq’s parliament speaker Mahmud al-Mashhadani, a Sunni Islamist, was kidnapped last night in western Baghdad. Gunmen grabbed Ahmed al-Mashhadani from the western Hurriyah neighborhood, an Interior Ministry spokesman said.

The abduction came amid tensions in the 275-member parliament over legislation on the guidelines for the creation of strong regional governments submitted by the assembly’s dominant 130-member Shia bloc this week.

A main Shia party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Sciri), favours the creation of a virtually autonomous nine-province region in the south, modelled after Iraq’s independent Kurdish north.

Sunni politicians are adamantly opposed to carving up Iraq into Shia, Sunni and Kurdish zones with a weak central government.

The Sunnis, who reside mainly in central and western Iraq, fear being cut out of Iraq’s lucrative oil wealth by the Shia south and the Kurdish north.

In a significant development, Mr al-Maliki signed an agreement with General George Casey, the US Commander, transferring control of Iraq’s armed forces to the Iraqi Government.

The accord gave Mr al-Maliki immediate control over Iraq’s young Air Force and Navy and it began the process of putting the Iraqi Army’s ten divisions under the full command of the Iraqi Government.

“It’s a great step and a great day in Iraqi history,” Mr al-Maliki said.

After the ceremony today, the 8th Iraqi Army Division, stationed in Najaf, also came under Iraqi command. From now on, two more divisions are now scheduled to fall under Iraqi command every month.

“From today Iraqi military operations will be increasingly conceived and led by Iraqi forces. It marks a milestone in the relentless journey of Iraqi forces, a study in courage, perseverance and the values of Iraq,” General Casey said.

He added, however, that America’s 141,000 troops stationed in Iraq would not head home soon. The ceremony was originally planned for last Saturday, but was postponed due to last-minute arguments over the wording of the document.

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