Two separate suicide car bomb attacks, one near the prime minister's party headquarters in Baghdad, killed at least six Iraqi security troops and left 39 other Iraqis injured Monday as insurgents pressed their deadly campaign to disrupt national elections.

The first blast by an explosive-laden car near interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's party headquarters killed two police officers and one civilian and injured 25 other people. The secular Shi'ite leader was not inside the building in Baghdad's western district of Harithiya when the blast occurred, his aides said.

The second attack took place in Balad, about 80 kilometers north of the capital, killing four Iraqi National Guard Soldiers and wounding 14, US military spokesman Neal E. O'Brien said. The driver of the car bomb died in the blast.

Police said the yellow car exploded shortly before 10 am yesterday after trying to ram a police checkpoint outside the offices of Allawi's Iraqi National Accord Party in a western Baghdad district.

The driver was killed in addition to the two policemen and the civilian. Eighteen other officers were among the wounded as well as seven civilians. Witnesses said machine-gun fire broke out after the explosion, which set fire to three police vehicles.

Car bombings have become a standard feature of the deadly insurgency in Iraq ahead of the elections scheduled for January 30. On Sunday, a car bombing also in Balad killed at least 22 national guardsmen and their driver. Ten other people were killed in separate attacks on Sunday.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell warned on Sunday of more violence ahead of Iraq's January 30 elections and said a stronger Iraqi force is needed to help bolster security.

Meanwhile on Sunday, prominent Shi'ite leaders called for unity with Sunni Arabs wanting to delay the vote but insisted it be held despite the violence.

"The Iraqi Unified Alliance calls for national talks to stand against the civil war or sectarianism conflict," said Sheikh Humam Hamoudy, a member of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, which is part of the coalition. "We call for unity particularly with the Sunni brothers because there is a large plan to create a sectarian fight."

The Shi'ite leaders, who are backed by Iraq's most influential cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, said postponing the vote would only create more chaos in Iraq.

They rejected comments purportedly made by Osama bin Laden in a tape released last Monday, in which the al-Qaeda leader urged Muslims not to vote, calling the election illegitimate.

Ahmad Chalabi, a former exile and one-time Pentagon confidant who led the Iraqi National Congress, said that while no Iraqi wants US-led coalition forces to remain in Iraq, the alliance would not seek the troops' immediate withdrawal after the vote.

(China Daily January 4, 2005)