Lethal car bomb rocks Iraqi town

The bomb in Baghdad is to have injured people going to a theatre

A car bomb has killed 10 people and injured at least 20 outside a car dealership in the northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar.

The US military say it appears to have been a suicide attack but Iraqi police say a parked vehicle exploded.

In the Iraqi capital Baghdad, a bomb went off near the National Theatre, killing at least three people.

And a US military helicopter crashed in the flashpoint city of Mosul after hitting wires, the US military said.

Information on the condition of the crew of the OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopter was not immediately available.

Car market targeted

Tal Afar, once a model for US-led peace efforts, has seen mounting violence.

The town lies near Mosul, in the province of Nineveh, where al-Qaeda and Sunni insurgents are active.

The latest bomb attack targeted a second-hand car market and exploded at 1515 local time (1215 GMT), AFP news agency reports.

In Baghdad, a car bomb parked near the National Theatre exploded in the mainly Shia district of Karradah, killing at least three people and wounding 23, reportedly including some theatre-goers, police and hospital officials say.

Meanwhile, Iraqi and US negotiators are said to have agreed draft terms for US troops to stay on.

An Iraqi minister was quoted by The Associated Press as saying that a cabinet meeting would be called within days to vote on the much-delayed draft which allows for US troops to remain in Iraq for three more years after their UN mandate expires on 31 December.

In Washington, US National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe described the pact as a "good document that serves both Iraqis and Americans well".

Also on Saturday, the US military announced the death of one of its marines, who died on Friday from injuries received in a roadside bomb blast west of Baghdad.