Iraq Watch: July 17, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Suicide bombing attacks continued in the capital city of Baghdad on Sunday killing more than 20 people according to the AP.

Sunday's attacks come a day after a massive suicide bombing in the Iraqi town of Musayyib. The Iraqi government now puts the death toll from the Musayyib bombing at 98. Another 75 people were wounded in the blast caused by a suicide bomber blowing up a fuel tanker near the town center.

Also Sunday, the Iraqi Special Tribunal announced the first criminal charges against former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Chief judge Raid Juhi said the charges relate to the 1982 killings of some 150 Shiites in the town of Dujail, 50 miles north of Baghdad. The massacre allegedly took place after a failed assassination attempt against Saddam.

The court now has 45 days to announce a start date for the trial.

The U.S. military, meanwhile, announced the deaths of two U.S. soldiers.