NATION/WORLD. Suicide bomber 11s42 people BAGHDAD (AP) - Bombers killed 42 people yesterday at a Baghdad res- taurant favored by police and an army recruiting center to the north, while Iraqi troops along the Iranian border found 27 decomposing bodies, unidenti- fied victims of the grisly violence plagu- ing the country. In the deadliest bombing in Baghdad since Sept. 19, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a restaurant about 9:45 a.m., when officers usually stop in for breakfast. Police Maj. Falah al-Moham- medawi said 35 officers and civilians died and 25 were wounded. A-Qaida in Iraq claimed in an Inter- net posting that it staged the attack in retaliation for U.S. and Iraqi opera- tions near the Syrian border. Earlier, it claimed responsibility for Wednesday night's deadly hotel bombings in neigh- boring Jordan, linking those blasts to the conflict in Iraq. Samiya Mohammed, who lives near the restaurant, said she rushed out when she heard the explosion. "There was bodies, mostly civilians, and blood everywhere inside the place. This is a criminal act that only targeted and hurt innocent people having their breakfast," she said. There were no Americans in the area, she said. "I do not understand why most of the time it is the Iraqis who are killed," she added. The blast was the most deadly since a car bomb ripped through a market in a poor Shiite Muslim neighborhood on the eastern outskirts of Baghdad, kill- ing at least 30 people and wounding 38 on Sept. 19. Police first reported two bombers struck the restaurant because some witnesses heard two blasts. Later, al- Mohammedawi said the suicide attack- er carried a bomb in a satchel and also wore an explosives belt and the two detonated independently. Thursday's other big attack came in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, 80 miles north of the capital, where a car bomb blew up in the middle of a group of men outside an Iraqi army recruiting center. Seven were killed and 13 wound- ed, police Capt. Hakim al-Azawi said. The men were former officers during. Saddam's regime, Azawi said. Last week, Iraq's defense minister invited officers of Saddam's army up to the rank of major to enlist in the new Iraqi army. It was an overture to disaf- fected Sunni Arab ex-soldiers, many of whom joined the insurgency after the Americans abolished the Iraqi armed forces in 2003. The bombings came just before Brit- ish Foreign Secretary Straw arrived in Baghdad for a meeting with Prime Min- ister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to discuss the Dec. 15 parliamentary elections. "This is a very exciting time to visit Iraq: Once more, the country's people will have the chance to decide who will govern them, and I am pleased to see that all of the different communities in the country are taking part," Straw said. In another sign of the country's sectar- ian and criminal violence, Iraqi soldiers found the decomposing bodies of 27 peo- ple near Jassan, a town close to the border with Iran, Col. Ali Mahmoud said. They were not immediately identi- fied, but the area is a known dump- ing ground for such groups of bodies, which turn up with regularity in Iraq. Officials suspect death squads from the Shiite majority, the Sunni minor- ity and criminal gangs are responsible for the killings. At least 653 bodies have been found since Iraq's interim government was formed April 28, according to an Associated Press count. The identities of many are never determined, but at least 116 are known to be Sunni Arabs, 43 Shiites and one Kurd. Some are likely victims of crimes, including kidnappings, which are rampant in some cities and as dan- gerous to Iraqis as political violence. In western Iraq, U.S. officials said Operation Steel Curtain was mov- ing out of the town of Husaybah to the village of Karabilah, a militant stronghold on the Syrian border. The 6-day-old operation aims to secure the area that U.S. commanders believe is used to smuggle foreign fighters and weapons into Iraq. NEWS IN BRIEF "A,: PARIS Riots and violence in France slows Violence in France fell sharply overnight, the police chief said yesterday, one day after the government toughened its stance by imposing emergency measures and ordering deportations of foreigners involved in riots that have raged for two weeks. In the past two nights, there was a notable decline in the number of car burn- ings - a barometer of the intensity of the country's worst civil unrest in nearly four decades. National Police Chief Michel Gaudin said there was a "very sharp drop" in violence overnight. While youths have been battling riot police with rocks and firebombs, "there were practically no clashes with police," he said. The government ordered a 12-day state of emergency that went into effect Wednesday in an effort to quell the rioting. Also, Interior Minister Nicolas Sar- kozy said local authorities had been told to deport foreigners convicted so far for their roles. A French anti-racism group, SOS-Racisme, called the measure illegal. The group's president said he had asked France's highest administrative body, the Council of State, to intervene. WASHINGTON GOP leaders scuttle vote on budget-cut bill House Republican leaders scuttled a vote yesterday on a $51 billion bud- get-cut package in the face of a revolt by lawmakers over scaling back Medicaid, food stamp and student loan programs. The development was a major setback for the GOP on Capitol Hill and for President Bush, who has made cuts to benefit programs a central pillar in his budget plan. The decision by GOP leaders came despite a big concession to moder- ates Wednesday, when the leaders dropped provisions to open the Arctic National Refuge to oil and gas exploration, as well as a plan allowing states to lift a moratorium on oil drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. "We weren't quite ready to go to the floor," Majority Leader Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said five hours after recessing the House for closed-door meetings aimed at picking up votes from wavering Republicans. Blunt said some members still had concerns, indicating GOP leaders were willing to make additional concessions in an attempt to round up support. VIENNA, Austria U.S. ready to accept Iran nuclear activities The United States and Europe have agreed on a compromise plan to accept expanded nuclear activities by Iran, but only if the enrichment process - a possible pathway to nuclear arms - is moved to Russia, senior officials and diplomats said yesterday. If accepted by Iran, the proposal could end a tug-of-war over whether to refer the Islamic republic to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions. The officials and diplomats, who demanded anonymity in exchange for discussing the strategy, said the plan would allow Iran to continue converting raw uranium into the gas that is spun by centrifuges into enriched uranium. But actual enrichment would take place in Russia, they told The Associated Press. SHANGHAI, China Chna reports new bird flu outbreaks, raising fears Authorities in China said yesterday they have quarantined 116 people in northeastern Liaoning province after two new outbreaks of bird flu there. The province has now suf- fered three outbreaks in less than three weeks despite a massive campaign to contain the virus. Kuwait reported the first two cases of bird flu i the Gulf region but said it would not do the tests to determine whether they were caused by the deadly and virulent H5N1 strain. China did not make clear the extent to which the 116 people in Liaoning were being isolated. The country has imposed quarantines in other bird-flu afflicted areas but in at least one case residents were restricted only from leaving their village. - Compiled from Daily wire reports CORRECTIONS Please report any error in the Daily to corrections@michigandaily.com able f£irbiT~tu 3uiI~ 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com "*. JASON Z. PESICK Editor in Chief pesick@michigandaily.com 647-3336 Sun.-Thurs. 5 p.m. - 2 a.m. JONATHAN DOBBERSTEIN Business Manager business@michigandaily.com 764-0558 Mon-Fri. 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. CONTACT INFORMATION News Tips Corrections Letters to the Editor Photography Department Arts Section Editorial Page Sports Section Display Sales Classified Sales Online Sales Finance Newsroom: 763-2459 Office hours: Sun.-Thurs. 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