US military arrive at the scene in their armoured vehicles following a suicide bomb in central Baghdad. Gunmen assassinated a judge serving on the tribunal set up to try Saddam Hussein , officials said, as suicide car bombers killed 10 people in attacks on an Iraqi army base and a checkpoint in Baghdad.(Photo: Xinhua/AFP)

(Photo: Xinhua/AFP)

(Photo: Xinhua/Reuters)

    BAGHDAD, March 2 (Xinhuanet) -- A suicide car bomb exploded outside an Iraqi army base in Baghdad Wednesday, killing at least six people and wounding some 28 others, an Iraqi army officer said.

   "A suicide bomber drove an explosive-laden vehicle into one of the main gates of the Iraqi military base at al-Muthanna airport at 7:10 a.m. (0410 GMT), killing at least six soldiers and wounding 28 others, including several civilians," the officer told reporters.

   The blast targeted people who were lining up for army recruits, he said.

   Five cars could be seen badly damaged in the street and human parts scattered in the area.

   Ambulances raced to the scene to evacuate the wounded as the Iraqi security forces and US troops sealed off the area preventing people from approaching the blast scene.

   Al-Muthanna military base was previously an airport which was targeted by insurgents several times last year. In June 2004, 35 people were killed in a car bomb blast outside the base.

   The attack came two days after a massive bombing attack in the capital killed 125 people, the deadliest single attack since the US-led forces toppled the former regime of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

   Insurgents bent on undermining the US-backed interim government often target Iraqi security forces, soldiers and officials, accusing them of collaborating with the occupation forces.  

   Elsewhere, unidentified gunmen have shot dead a judge working for the Iraqi Special Tribunal set up to try the deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and his top lieutenants, Interior Ministry officials said Wednesday.

¡¡ Investigative Judge Barwize Mohamed Marwane and his son Arayan, who worked as a clerk for the tribunal, were gunned down Tuesday asthey left home in the northern Baghdad district of Adhamiyah, the officials said.

¡¡ The tribunal, set up in December 2003, wrapped up its first investigation of the former regime members on Monday, recommending Saddam's half-brother Barzan Ibrahim al-Hassan al-Tikriti, former vice president Taha Yasin Ramadan and three others be brought to trial for genocide, war crime and crimes against humanity during their over 30-year rule.

 ¡¡It was not clear what post the assassinated Marwane held in the tribunal.

 ¡¡Insurgents often attack judicial officials of Iraq in an attempt to undermine the US-backed interim government. Several judges have been killed in recent months. Enditem