Car bomb hits outside recruitment center

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A suicide car bomb outside an Iraqi army recruitment center and other attacks killed a dozen people Tuesday and wounded more than 50. Iraq's parliament adjourned in protest after a legislator linked to a militant Shiite faction claimed he had been roughed up at a U.S. checkpoint.

The suicide bombing occurred in the Azamiyah section of the capital about 18 yards from the front gate of the recruitment center, killing at least six Iraqis, including two soldiers, and wounding 44, said police Col. Hussein Mutlaq.

In other violence targeting the military, insurgents opened fire on Iraqi soldiers in Khalidiyah, 75 miles west of Baghdad, killing four soldiers and wounding seven, police and hospital officials said.

Late Monday, gunmen ambushed a senior Defense Ministry adviser, Maj. Gen. Adnan al-Qaraghulli, killing him and his son as he drove home in Baghdad, the Interior Ministry said.

One of the main goals of U.S.-led forces in the 2-year-old war is to train Iraqi security forces to replace American soldiers, and insurgents often target centers where these forces are recruited and instructed.

Iraq's National Assembly briefly delayed its session to protest the alleged mistreatment of a Shiite legislator by a soldier at a U.S. checkpoint outside the heavily fortified Green Zone, where parliament meets in central Baghdad.

In an emotional speech to the legislature, a sobbing Fattah al-Sheik, whose small party has been linked to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, said the American soldier had kicked his car, mocked the legislature, handcuffed him and held him by the neck.

"What happened to me represents an insult to the whole National Assembly that was elected by the Iraqi people. This shows that the democracy we are enjoying is fake," he said. "Through such incidents, the U.S. Army tries to show that it is the real controlling power in the country, not the new Iraqi government, and that it can impose its rules on every Iraqi."

Before the session resumed, lawmaker Salam al-Maliki read a statement from the assembly to reporters, demanding an apology from the U.S. Embassy and the prosecution of the U.S. soldier who allegedly had mistreated al-Sheik.

Parliament speaker Hajim al-Hassani said: "We reject any sign of disrespect directed at lawmakers. The National Assembly members ... should be treated in an appropriate way."

U.S. forces said they were investigating.