Death Toll in Baghdad Suicide Bombing Reaches 10

A suicide bomber killed 10 people and wounded about 40 when he blew himself up Monday after joining a line of Iraqis waiting for government checks.

The attack in a mostly Shiite district of Baghdad occurred as more than 70 people waited at a bank to receive checks to compensate for incomplete food rations. Initial reports had said five were killed.

Police officials said the bomber detonated an explosives belt as security guards were searching people.

Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Falah Mohammedawi said the wounded included three children and nine women.

Meanwhile, a prominent Shiite Muslim cleric, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Yaqoubi, called for a demonstration today in front of the British Consulate in the southern city of Basra to protest alleged abuse of Iraqi youths by British soldiers.

Video images first reported Sunday by the News of the World, a British weekly newspaper, appeared to show soldiers dragging several young Iraqis into a compound and beating them with fists and truncheons. The newspaper said a corporal made the video in southern Iraq two years ago. It did not name the soldier or unit involved.

British military police said Monday that they had arrested one man in their investigation of the video.