Senior Iraqi General Killed in Ambush

The Iraqi general, in his mid-fifties, was an aggressive, inspirational leader and rising star within the army, Webster said. A Sunni Arab sheik from southern Baghdad, Dulaimi led a division under Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, and since Hussein's fall had commanded two other divisions before being selected by the Defense Ministry for the critical job in Baghdad. "He was certainly destined to be a senior leader of all the armed forces," Webster said.

But Dulaimi's hands-on style and unusual drive to lead from the front -- as well as his habit of shunning body armor -- also put him in greater danger. "He knew he had to be out with his soldiers for them to trust him," Webster said. "He put himself at more risk than his predecessors."

Elsewhere in the capital on Monday, at least four car bombs exploded, killing four people and injuring 24, police said. Another four people were killed and 10 wounded when three car bombs detonated in the town of Mahmudiyah, about 15 miles south of the capital, security officials said.

In the worst attack of the day, seven people, including five children, were killed and 17 were injured when a car bomb exploded in a crowded market in central Baqubah, about 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, police said.

A U.S. military statement said the explosion occurred near the office of the mayor, who was meeting with community leaders at the time to discuss ways to improve security. The statement blamed the attack on insurgent attempts to "incite sectarian violence within the community."

Five policemen who rushed to the scene were reportedly injured in a secondary bombing that targeted them.

The U.S. military reported the death of a U.S. soldier "due to enemy action" in the western province of Anbar on Sunday. Additional details were not available.

The bodies of a father and two of his sons were found Monday in the city of Hawijah, about 35 miles southwest of the northern city of Kirkuk, according to police. They said the victims were Shiite Muslims who appeared to have been shot execution-style, presumably by the Sunni-led insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq.

An offshoot of the group recently distributed leaflets in the town demanding the expulsion of Shiites in retaliation after Sunnis fled their communities around Baghdad.

Fearing sectarian violence, some Sunni families abandoned their homes following the destruction of a revered Shiite mosque in Samarra on Feb. 22. Attracted by the rich agricultural land around Hawijah, many Shiites had moved to the area during the rule of Hussein, residents said.

Residents of the town were "shocked by these leaflets, because many of these families who work in agriculture and cattle raising, as well as other jobs, have intermarried and lived here for many years without any problem," said local police Capt. Emad Khider.

Tyson reported from Washington. Other Washington Post staff contributed to this report.