Council Gives Iraq Security Deal Final Approval

Iraq's presidential council today approved the security pact that lays out a 3-year timeframe for US troops to leave— the final step for the agreement to replace a UN mandate that expires Dec. 31, the AP reports. As the final legal hurdle to the deal was cleared, American soldiers and Iraqi civilians alike faced another round of deadly bombings by insurgents trying to chip away at recent security gains.

Two suicide bombers in explosives-laden trucks took aim at police stations in the former Sunni insurgent stronghold of Fallujah today, killing at least 15 people and wounding more than 100. A suicide car bomber also killed two US soldiers and wounded nine Iraqi civilians near a checkpoint in the northern city of Mosul. (More US military stories.)