In other Iraq news, CNN is reporting intelligence sources estimate 150 car bombings and 250 suicide attacks are being planned over the next week to disrupt the Jan. 30 election. On Wednesday, 10 car bombings were reported. Earlier today, a car bomb exploded outside a Shiite mosque in Baghdad killing at least 14 and injuring 40 people.

On Thursday, an audio recording purportedly by militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi warned that the war against the US presence in Iraq would last for years.

Meanwhile the Washington Post reports the US is now holding nearly 8,000 Iraqis in prison marking the highest total since March.