Baghdad (dpa) - A female would-be suicide bomber still wearing an
explosives vest turned herself over to police on Sunday, the same day
that 25 people were killed in a further suicide bombing, the US
military said Monday.

The military said the woman let herself be escorted away by police
in the city of Baquba, north-east of the capital Baghdad, and that she
then led the officers to a 13-year-old girl who was likewise supposed
to carry out a suicide attack.

Baquba is capital of the restive Diyala province, where the US Army
has set up a separate female anti-terrorism unit in the battle to try
to thwart suicide bomb attacks by women.

Meanwhile the death toll in Sunday's suicide bombing west of
Baghdad had risen to 25, Arab media reports said Monday. Initial
reports had put the figure at 21 dead.

In addition, 30 people were wounded when the attacker detonated his
explosives vest during a banquet thrown by a family celebrating a
relative's release from prison, a police source who spoke on condition
of anonymity told Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency.

The attack took place in the Abu Ghraib district, 30 kilometres west of Baghdad.