Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq     

    BAGHDAD, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- A suicide car bomber struck a police checkpoint near offices and residences of some Iraqi politicians outside the Green Zone in western Baghdad on Tuesday, killing two policemen and wounding 12 people, an Interior Ministry source said.

    "A suicide bomber driving an explosive-laden car crossed the first checkpoint in the Zaitoun Street in Harthiyah neighborhood and blew it up at about 8:15 a.m. (0515 GMT) near the second checkpoint just near the homes and offices of former premier Iyad Allawi and secular Sunni lawmaker Salih al-Mutlak," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    Most of the casualties were policemen who were part of a security force guarding the politicians outside the heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses the government offices and foreign embassies, including the U.S. embassy, the source said.

    Violence continues in Baghdad despite the fact that the U.S. and Iraqi security forces have staged a security plan in the capital since Feb. 14 aimed at putting rampant violence under control.