MIDDLE EAST Attacks leave 34 dead in Iraq

The Pentagon decided to delay sending 3,500 troops from Germany to Iraq.
COMBINED DISPATCHES
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Violence killed at least 34 people including a U.S. soldier as efforts to finish choosing the new Cabinet bogged down Monday in a web of conflicting interests.
Officials said Iraqi parties may look outside parliament to find candidates for some key posts.
One lawmaker said outgoing Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi, a former Pentagon favorite, had been mentioned to head the Interior Ministry. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the talks are secret, acknowledged that Chalabi was a long shot.
The deadliest attack Monday occurred when a car bomb exploded near an Iraqi court in central Baghdad, killing five Iraqi civilians and wounding 10, police Lt. Col. Falah al-Mohammedawi said.
Two Iraqi policemen died and 12 people were wounded when another car bomb went off near a police patrol traveling down busy Palestine Street in eastern Baghdad, police Lt. Ahmed Qassim said.
The American soldier was killed when a roadside bomb struck a military convoy Monday southeast of Baghdad, according to a U.S. statement. The command did not specify the location, but Iraqi police reported a bombing damaged a U.S. convoy between the Shiite holy cities of Karbala and Najaf.
U.S. soldier killed
In a separate statement, the U.S. command said one American soldier was killed and another wounded during a clash Sunday near Tal Afar, 260 miles northwest of Baghdad.
The fatalities raised to at least 2,421 the number of U.S. military members who have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
The Pentagon announced Monday that it has delayed sending 3,500 troops from Germany to Iraq as military commanders in Baghdad assess whether security conditions have improved enough to allow more cuts in forces.
The Pentagon said troops with the 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, based in Schweinfurt, Germany, were scheduled to begin deploying this month, but that a decision about whether they would be sent to Iraq has been delayed.
Officials cautioned that the announcement didn't mean that the brigade's deployment has been canceled or that an overall reduction in U.S. forces in Iraq would soon follow.
"This is a very narrow decision to hold one brigade from deploying and to give the commanders on the ground additional time to continue their assessments," said Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman.