Sunnis boycott reconciliation conference

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The bomber in Karbala struck after worshippers gathered at a sacred historical site about half a mile from the golden domed shrine of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad who was killed in a seventh-century battle.

A police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information, said the attacker was a woman — as did a witness. The Interior Ministry, in a statement on Tuesday, identified the attacker as a man.

Female suicide bombers have been involved in at least 20 attacks or attempted attacks since the war began in 2003, including the bombings of two pet markets in Baghdad that killed nearly 100 people last month.

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The national conference coincides with the release of a United Nations report that says record numbers of Iraqis sought asylum in the European Union last year, despite a sharp reduction in violence that followed the surge of U.S. forces.

Asylum requests from Iraqis shot up to 38,286 in 2007, from 19,375 in 2006, according to the report, making Iraqis the single largest group seeking refuge in the EU.

Al-Maliki said Tuesday that Iraqi officials were working to return Iraqi refugees home.

Bombings hit Baghdad, Mosul
In other violence Tuesday, a roadside bomb near a gas station in northern Baghdad killed three people, including two police officers, police officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the attack.

A suicide car bombing outside an electronics store in Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, killed four and wounded at least 40, the U.S. military said. Unknown gunmen also killed two Awakening Council members in Beiji, 90 miles south of Mosul, police said.

Awakening Councils are made up of mostly Sunni fighters who have accepted U.S. backing to switch allegiances and fight al-Qaida in Iraq.

In a separate statement, the U.S. military said it killed seven suspected members of a suicide bombing cell Tuesday and captured eight others in northern and central Iraq.

At least 10 bodies were discovered in Baghdad, Mosul and Kut, police and government officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.