Over 30 killed in Iraq carnage

BAGHDAD: Over 30 Iraqis were killed in a day of bloodshed on Sunday, including an attack near Baghdad airport, as prime minister designate Nuri al-Maliki moved closer to announcing a cabinet five months after elections.

Maliki was poised to unveil a cabinet that leaves the key security ministries vacant, a prominent member of his Shiite alliance said, amid hopes that filling Iraq's power vacuum would help quell the raging violence.

Fourteen Iraqis were killed and six wounded in a pair of suicide car bombings at the checkpoint leading to the Baghdad International Airport. A total of 33 Iraqis were killed around the country.

Two vehicles packed with explosives were detonated in a parking lot near the checkpoint, the US military said in a statement, adding that the attacks did not target the base itself.

The violence came as Maliki appeared set to break weeks of deadlock over the new government by leaving the controversial interior and defense portfolios vacant and instead keeping them in his own hands for the time being.