A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a minibus full of Iraqi army recruits in Baghdad on Monday, killing 13 people and wounding seven, police said. Police said the bomber boarded the minibus outside the Muthanna base in central Baghdad and detonated his explosives.

The United States and Iraq hope to sign an agreement by next week to hand operational command of Iraq’s new army to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, an aide said on Monday, after wrangles on wording had held up the accord. Transferring security from US-led forces to the Iraqi army it is training is key to Washington’s plans to withdraw its 140 000 troops.

The top United States general in the Middle East praised a major security clampdown in Baghdad on Thursday and said Iraq was far from civil war. On a day when three car bombs and two roadside bombs killed four people and wounded 24 in the capital, General John Abizaid told reporters: ”I think there has been great progress on the security front in Baghdad recently.”