Four U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq Bombing

Four U.S. Army soldiers died in a roadside bombing, gunmen killed a Sunni Arab candidate for parliament, and militants tried to blow up a leading Shiite politician in separate attacks Tuesday, the last day of campaigning for Iraq's election.

More than 1,000 Sunni clerics, meanwhile, issued a religious edict, or a fatwa, urging Sunni Arabs to vote in Thursday's balloting — offering a seal of approval as members of the disaffected minority are expected to turn out in large numbers after mostly boycotting the landmark Jan. 30 polls.

The bombing northwest of Baghdad killed four Americans soldiers assigned to Task Force Baghdad which handles security in the capital and the surrounding area.

The deaths bring to at least 2,149 the number of U.S. service members to have died since the start of the war in 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

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