Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- At least 14 persons were killed and some 30 others wounded in a car bombing attack in a crowded Baghdad suburb on Wednesday, said official sources.

    The incident took place in a largely Shiite neighborhood of central Baghdad at about 5 p.m. on Wednesday when a parked car bomb went off, a local police source said.

    At least 15 people and some 30 others injured, said the source, adding the explosion also caused damage to a Shiite mosque.

    Gunfire and sirens followed the blast in the neighborhood, and a plume of smoke rose to the sky, according to police and hospital officials.

    The blast came as the U.S. defense secretary is visiting here to press for political reconciliation.

U.S. Defense Secretary arrives in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who flew into Iraq's northern city of Mosul on an unannounced visit earlier on Wednesday, has arrived in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, a U.S. official said. Full story