Bomber targets two Iraqi politicians

BAGHDAD, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- A Baghdad suicide bomber, apparently targeting two senior Iraqi politicians, killed two police officers and injured 13 civilians Tuesday.

The blast happened near the heavily fortified International Zone in front of the homes of former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and Sunni politician Saleh Mutlaq, Interior Ministry officials said.

Allawi leads the secular Iraqi National Accord and Mutlaq leads the Sunni Iraqi Front for National Dialogue party. Neither politician was injured in the attack.

Mutlaq was in Amman and told Kuwait's KUNA news agency in a telephone interview he had predicted such an attack and asked the Interior Ministry to act.

"A while ago, we received intelligence ... the whole area surrounding my house and the front headquarters were no longer secure," Mutlaq said.

Elsewhere, police reported that Monday night two gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire and killed the manager of Iraq's only psychiatric hospital.

The U.S. military said in a statement one of its soldiers was killed and two others were injured Monday night in a suicide attack north of Baghdad.