Police say a suicide truck bomber killed at least 13 people when he rammed his vehicle into the municipal headquarters of a northern Iraqi town today.

Stabilizing Iraq could take as long as a decade, the U.S. commander in Baghdad said. "In fact, typically, I think historically, counterinsurgency operations have gone at least nine or 10 years," Gen. David Petraeus said Sunday. "The question is, of course, at what level."

Iraq's prime minister ordered an indefinite curfew in the southern city of Basra Friday after a Sunni shrine was bombed in a nearby town.

Iraqis in a predominantly Sunni neighborhood of Baghdad say Sunni insurgents and al-Qaida militants have been fighting there for the last two days. Few details have been reported about the clashes, but VOA's Barry Newhouse reports the fighting comes as U.S. commanders say they are pursuing new strategies to isolate al-Qaida-linked groups.

U.S. President George W. Bush has met with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in Washington, and said the United States is "fully committed" to aiding the Iraqi government.

Iraqi and U.S. troops were holed up in residents houses under a curfew claimed to restore calm after days of internal fighting between insurgent groups in Sunni neighborhood in Baghdad.

The United States and Iran are due to start their first bilateral talks in more than two decades on May 28. The Baghdad talks will focus on ways to quell the violence in Iraq and will not address other issues, such as Tehran's disputed nuclear program.

President Bush says U.S. troops in Iraq face a critical time during the next few months as they try to implement his new strategy. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports, the last of the additional 30,000 troops Mr. Bush is sending to Iraq should be in place by the middle of June.

Reports say a car bomb targeting mourners at a funeral killed 25 people and wounded another 30 in Al-Fallujah, west of Baghdad. The bomber reportedly drove into a crowd and blew himself up as mourners walked down a main street carrying the coffin.

Iraqi police say a car bomb explosion has killed at least 25 people in a crowded market in Baghdad Tuesday. Officials say about 60 others were wounded in the blast in the mostly Shi'ite Amil district in southwestern Baghdad.

A published report says 2007 could be the most lethal year yet for civilian employees of private companies operating in Iraq's war zones.

The U.S. military says five soldiers were killed and three are missing from a pre-dawn attack on a U.S.-led coalition patrol south of Baghdad. Chief U.S. military spokesman Major General William Caldwell said the patrol of seven U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi army interpreter was attacked near Mahmoudiya.