Baghdad - The United States will be asked to consider a series of amendments to an agreement on the status of its forces in Iraq, Iraqi officials announced Tuesday.

The list of proposed amendments were ratified by the federal cabinet, which also authorized the Iraqi prime minister to discuss the issue with Washington.

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement that the changes were made in accordance with proposals of ministers from various political parties, the Voices of Iraq news (VOI) agency reported. He described the changes as "essential and substantial."

After Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki discusses the changes with US officials, it will return to the cabinet for further discussion.

According to broadcaster al-Arabiya, the changes proposed by the cabinet would clarify under what circumstances US troops would be answerable to Iraqi law.

The cabinet also wants clarity on differences between the English and Arabic texts of the agreement. One version calls for US troops to "respect" Iraqi law while the other calls for them to adhere to Iraqi law.

The Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) would extend the mandate of US forces in Iraq beyond the end of this year, when the previous UN authorization runs out.

Washington and Baghdad reached agreement on a final text of the pact earlier this month and hope it will be approved by lawmakers in both countries.

Meanwhile bloodshed continued in Iraq with three bomb blasts in Baghdad and an attack on police volunteers in the northern city of Mosul claiming a total of eight lives.

A car bomb in western Baghdad killed 4 people and wounded 12 others, the Voices of Iraq (VOI) agency said. The bomb exploded in a local market of the al-Jihad district of western Baghdad, police told VOI.

Earlier, seven people were injured in two separate blasts in Baghdad. In the first blast, four people were injured by a bomb in the al-Nahda district in the centre of Baghdad, police said.

The second blast hit al-Nidal street in central Baghdad. Three people were injured in the detonation, the police source added.

In the northern city of Mosul, four people were killed and four were wounded in an armed attack on eight policemen, the VOI reported.

Unknown gunmen attacked eight new volunteer members on their way to work in the al-Amel district of Mosul. The gunmen then fled.

In a separate development, a senior Kurdish security official escaped an assassination attempt in Touz Khormato district in the northern Salahaddin province.

A bomb went off near the car of Shawan Mohammed, the chief of the Kurdish security agency Asayesh, a security source told VOI.

Mohamed survived the blast but his vehicle was severely damaged, the source added.

Asayesh is a Kurdish intelligence agency. It was established in 1993. dpa