In Iraq, the death toll from yesterday’s suicide car bombing in Baquba has risen to 68. The attack came exactly one month after the so-called handover of power and marked one of the deadliest car bombings since the fall of Baghdad. Meanwhile 35 members of the Iraqi resistance and seven Iraqi troops were killed south of Baghdad. In Ramadi, gunmen broke into the home of the region’s governor, kidnapped three of the governor’s sons and set the building on fire. All told more than 120 Iraqis died yesterday.

And Saudi Arabia yesterday proposed the formation of an international Muslim or Arab security force in Iraq during talks with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. Few Muslim or Arab nations have volunteered troops during the occupation and Iraqi officials say that troops from neighboring countries would not be acceptable. Likely candidates for the international force include Pakistan, Bangladesh, Algeria, Morocco and Indonesia.