IRAQ Militant group admits Irbil suicide bombings

The claim of responsibility was posted on a Web site.
TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) -- An Iraqi militant group claimed responsibility for the suicide bombings in Irbil, and a senior U.S. commander blamed recent attacks on insurgents seeking to sabotage a future independent Iraqi government.
Meanwhile, the United States said it is sticking to its timetable for Iraq self-rule by July 1 even though U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Wednesday the deadline might have to be reconsidered to forge an agreement on a provisional government.
The United States says it is impossible to arrange elections as demanded by Shiite clerics in such a short time because of the ongoing insurgency.
In their latest violence, two suicide bombers blew themselves up at the offices of two Kurdish parties in the northern city of Irbil on Sunday, killing 109 people.
On Wednesday, an Iraqi insurgent group, the "Jaish Ansar al-Sunna," claimed responsibility for the bombings. It said it targeted the "dens of the devils" because of the parties' ties to the United States. The claim could not be independently confirmed.
The two Kurdish parties are the strongest allies of the United States and had fought alongside its troops during the invasion of Iraq last March.
The statement claiming responsibility was posted in Arabic on a Web site that frequently carries statements by Islamic militants.
The name of the organization was included among a dozen insurgent groups that issued a joint statement this week in Ramadi and Fallujah -- part of the Sunni Triangle stronghold of Saddam Hussein loyalists -- warning Iraqis against cooperating with the U.S.-led occupation.
Kurdish and U.S. officials had suspected the attacks were carried out by Ansar al-Islam, an extremist group with alleged ties to Al-Qaida.