Washington, Nov 17: US President-elect Barack Obama has reportedly said that hw would keep his poll promises of pulling out troops from Iraq, crushing Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, and shutting down the Guantanamo Bay camp.

In his first major post-election radio interview, he signaled no retreat from expansive campaign promises that had pleased US allies, even while adding little detail to how he would fulfill them.

Baghdad  - A car bomb attack on a police patrol in north-east Iraq killed 10 civilians and injured 14 on Sunday, a security source in Diala province said.

The explosion took place near a courthouse in the al-Wihda neighborhood of Jalawlaa, 212 kilometres north-east of Baghdad, the al-Buratha news agency reported.

Earlier, a bomb went off in north-eastern Baghdad, killing three

people and wounding seven, police said.

The bomb was detonated near near a checkpoint in al-Shaab manned by members of a pro-US tribal force known as the Awakening Councils.

A civilian and two tribal members died. Seven tribal members were among the wounded, a police source told Voices Of Iraq (VOI) news agency.

Baghdad - The Iraqi cabinet on Sunday approved the final version of a security pact with the United States.

The draft was endorsed by 27 of the 28 members who attended the session, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told a press conference following the meeting.

He said the pact "is not ideal but it is the best possible option (for Iraq)."

Al-Dabbagh said both the US and Iraq agreed on the sticking point of how US military personnel could be made accountable for crimes they commit while off duty.

Al-Dabbagh explained that two committees, an Iraqi and US one, will be established to judge if those involved should be tried by Iraqi or US authorities.

Baghdad - The Iraqi cabinet on Sunday unanimously approved the final version of a security pact with the United States, al- Jazeera network reported. 

The pact, known as the Status of Forces Agreement, would establish a legal basis for the presence of US soldiers in Iraq after a United Nations mandate expires at end of this year. 

The draft agreement includes 31 articles and calls for US troops to pull out of Iraqi cities by June 2009 and from the entire country by the end of 2011. 

London, Nov 16 : The British Defence Ministry is reportedly facing fresh calls to provide more helicopters in Afghanistan as it investigates how two marine commandos died last week while patrolling in one of the British Army''s best known road vehicles.

The deaths of Neil Dunstan and Robert McKibben, both aged 32, in a bomb blast on Wednesday afternoon brought the numbers of British personnel who have died during the military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan to 300. In total, 124 service personnel have died in Afghanistan since 2001, while 176 have died in Iraq.

Baghdad - The Iraqi cabinet began an emergency meeting Sunday to review the final version of a security pact with the United States, al-Arabiya network reported.

The pact, known as the Status of Forces Agreement, would establish a legal basis for the presence of US soldiers in Iraq after a United Nations mandate expires at end of this year.

The draft agreement includes 31 articles and calls for US troops to pull out of Iraqi cities by June 2009 and from the entire country by the end of 2011.

Iraqi officials close to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki indicated that there was a good chance that the 37-member cabinet would ratify the draft now that the US has agreed on key amendments made by Iraq.