A suicide car bomber in northern Iraq has killed 20 people at the funeral of a local Kurdish official. The blast in T wounded 30 others taking part in the funeral procession. In Baghdad insurgents gunned down 5 Iraqi policemen at a checkpoint Sunday. And a car bomber killed 4 Iraqis in an attack on a US military convoy. Violence has increased dramatically since Thursday When Iraq's first elected post-war government was formed. Appearing on the CNN program Late Edition, Iraq's National Security advisor M says such violence was not unexpected.

    “And the more victory we achieve ,our objectives and the political process and more we expect these terrorists to commit more crimes against our people.”

    Meanwhile Iraqi police say five suspects arrested in the kidnapping and murder of a British aid worker Margaret Hassan, have admitted involvement in her death. He says they were detained earlier Sundays south of Baghdad.

    Britain’s involvement in Iraq is again taking center stage with only days to go before National Elections. Today Sunday Times carried a secret British foreign office memo that according to opponents showed the Prime Minster Tony Blair’s government had actively planned to join the US-led invasion of Iraq several months before fighting began. The opposition said Mr. Blair lied to parliament and the public about his intentions. But in a broadcast interview Sunday; Mr. Blair responded that the final decision to go to war was not made until much later, and that only after all diplomatic effort was exhausted. He’s also been closely questioned about the casualties in the war.

    “I’m sorry, I just have to say sorry for all the intelligence 's below,but I can't say sorry for the mission.”

    “Are you sorry about the death. I mean do you even know how many people died during the war and afterwards ?”

    “Yes, we do and say sorry for all those people that have died.”

    Opinion polls published Sunday showed Mr. Blair’s party several points ahead of his closest rivals,the Conservatives Tory party.

    But Mr. Blair cautioned his party supporters not to take victory for granted.

    Iraq is also in the headlines in Italy as the Italian Foreign Minister says Rome’s version of the events that led to the killing of an Italian security agent by US forces on March fourth in Baghdad will be released Monday. For VOA, S reports from Rome.

    The Italian government says its alliance with the United States is not in quisition following Saturday's release in Baghdad by the US ministry of the report outlining its version of what occured on March fourth. The US ministry's report found that the Italians failed to inform US troops of their plans to drive to Baghdad airport. It also says the car was driving too fast and ignored warning signals for it to stop. But Italy says it could not sign the same report as the US ministry because there was no common ground on the dynamics of the incident, the rules of engagement and on coordination with competent authorities in Iraq that night. The Italian foreign ministry has said its own report to be released Monday will shed light on these issues and explain why it believes the killing of the intelligence officer was the result of a tragic mistake and that the shooting by American soldiers was not justified . S VOA News Rome.

    A top US official says it appears North Korea has launched a short- range missile into sea of Japan. VOA’s Paula Wolfson has details from the White House.

    A few hours after the first reports surfaced of a possible North Korean missile test, White House chief of Staff Andrew Card was interviewed on an American television. He told CNN’s “Late Edition”. There is a reason to believe the initial Japanese reports are true.

    “It appears that it was a test of a short-range missile by the North Korean, and it landed in the Sea of Japan”

    Mr. Card made clear the Bush administration is monitoring the situation closely and said North Korea has taken similar action in the past. Earlier on the Fox News Sunday television program, the White House Chief of staff said Washington is aware of North Korea’s intentions. Mr. Card stressed that the United States remains committed to multinational diplomacy to deal with Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions. He said North Korean leader Kim Jong-iI has not kept his word and the United States has no confidence that he ever will. Paula Wolfson VOA News the White House.