Iraq notebook

Baghdad bomb kills 2 British civilians

BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb killed two British civilians traveling in an armored car near coalition headquarters on Monday - one of a series of blasts that rocked the center of the Iraqi capital.

After the bombing, insurgents fired mortar rounds around Baghdad. One projectile landed in the Green Zone, which houses coalition headquarters, the U.S. command said, but there were no reports of casualties or damage.

Elsewhere, clashes between U.S. forces and fighters loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Najaf killed at least one person and injured 20, a hospital official said. One person was killed and two were injured Monday in skirmishes in Kufa, said Ihsan Ibrahim of the Furat al-Awsat hospital. No U.S. casualties were reported.

WASHINGTON - The Army general who was in charge of the U.S. prison guards accused of abusing Iraqis has been suspended from command of the 800th Military Police Brigade.

Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, who has returned to the United States, has not been charged with an offense. Being suspended does not mean she has been relieved of command, so technically she could be reinstated.

Karpinski said she was notified in an e-mail Monday that she was being suspended but has not been given a formal explanation.

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