Baghdad Blast Kills Two Americans

Two suicide car bombs exploded at a well known square in central Baghdad on Saturday, killing 22 people, including two Americans, the U.S. Embassy said.

Iraqi officials said at least 35 people also were wounded in the attack in Tahrir Square, which damaged shops and set fire to several cars. The square is known for its shops and a large statue of Iraqi soldiers breaking through chains to freedom.

The remains of several mutilated bodies were seen lying in the street as fire trucks fought the blaze, which sent a large plume of black smoke up into the sky.

The wounded included five school girls who were hurt when the blasts damaged al-Aqida Secondary School in the square and a minibus driving by with students from a nearby school, officials said.

The attack was part of a surge in violence that has killed more than 275 people — many of them Iraqi soldiers and police — since Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari's new government was sworn in April 28.

On Friday, car bombs struck a market and a police bus outside the capital, killing at least 25 people. A dozen bodies also were uncovered in a garbage dump on the outskirts of Baghdad — some of them blindfolded and shot execution-style.

Meanwhile, Iraqi militants holding an Australian engineer hostage issued a 72-hour ultimatum for Australia to start pulling its troops out of Iraq.

Arab television station Al-Jazeera aired new footage Friday of the Australian hostage, Douglas Wood, and reported the ultimatum. It did not say what the militants would do if their deadline isn't met.

In the footage, the 63-year-old California resident, who suffers from a serious heart condition, is shown with his head shaven and rifles pointed at him. Australia's government has said it will ignore demands to remove its 1,370 troops.

Wood's brother, Malcolm, issued a statement on behalf of the family appealing to the captors to release him unharmed.

"We do not believe Douglas's captivity, or this ultimatum, will make any difference to the policy of the Australian government," Malcolm Wood said.

Iraqi political leaders have agreed who will fill five vacant Cabinet ministries and one of two deputy prime minister's slots in the new democratically elected government, ending an impasse that has consumed officials for more than three months, al-Jaafari said Saturday.

President Jalal Talabani and his two vice presidents have signed off on the names, which will be submitted to the 275-member National Assembly for a vote Sunday, al-Jaafari told reporters. He declined to give the names.

"All the ministries have been filled and the presidential council has approved them," al-Jaafari said. "The names will be given to the National Assembly on Sunday and you will hear the names then."

Al-Jaafari had promised to form a government that includes all of Iraq's major ethnic and religious groups after his Shiite-dominated alliance won a majority of seats in landmark parliamentary elections on Jan. 30. But bickering over Cabinet positions dragged on for months.

Members of the disaffected Sunni Arab minority — believed to make up the backbone of Iraq's deadly insurgency — protested when they were only given four ministries in the partial Cabinet sworn in April 28.

Members of al-Jaafari's United Iraqi Alliance have said Sunnis will get at least two more ministries and a deputy prime minister's slot. Al-Jaafari confirmed Saturday that the human rights minister would be a Sunni, but gave no further details on those selected.

He said he hoped to find a woman to be the fourth deputy prime minister.