Sadr slams Baghdad security plan, bomber kills 40

IRAQ: Radical Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr withdrew his support for a security crackdown in Baghdad on Sunday, hours after a female suicide bomber wearing a vest packed with explosives killed 40 in a student college.

Police earlier said the bomber at the Baghdad Economy and Administration College was a man. But they later said it was a women, who blew herself up in the lobby of the college after she was stopped by guards.

The move by Sadr, an anti-American cleric, is a blow for Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who on Saturday had expressed optimism about the U.S.-backed offensive. Until now, Sadr has supported the plan, seen as a last ditch attempt to halt all-out civil war in Iraq. He said it would not work because U.S. forces were involved.

"There is no benefit in this security plan because it is controlled by the occupiers," said an aide to Sadr, reading a statement from the cleric in front of thousands of chanting supporters in the firebrand's stronghold of Sadr City.

Police put the death toll from the college bombing at 40, with 55 people wounded. Most of the victims were students.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani meanwhile has fallen ill and is travelling to neighbouring Jordan for tests, officials said.

"He had a drop in blood pressure. Doctors said he needs further tests," said Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih.

A professor at the Baghdad college said the suicide attack occurred as students were leaving morning classes and arriving for afternoon lessons.

Baghdad Manday, Reuters