At least ten people have been killed in two separate car bomb blasts in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
The first blast targeted a police patrol outside an orphanage in the Karrada district of the city, killing nine people and injuring 26.
Another explosion in the northwest of the city left one person dead and a further 13 wounded.
The escalating violence has put political pressure on US President George W Bush, who is facing congressional elections in November.
Mr Bush has claimed in a series of speeches that success in Iraq is key to a global struggle against Islamic militants.
However, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said many leaders in the Middle East believe the US-led invasion of Iraq three years ago has brought disaster to the region.
At a news conference in New York, Mr Annan revealed that during his recent tour of the Middle East most of the leaders he met told him that the Iraq war and its aftermath had been a major destabilising factor.
He stressed that the timing of any US withdrawal was now a key issue but that opinion in the region remained divided on how it could be achieved.
