Developments in Iraq on Sunday

• Two car bombs wounded American and Iraqi troops west of the capital Sunday. The two attackers who died in the twin blasts tried to ram their cars into a National Guard base in Kharma, a town on the outskirts of the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, a U.S. military official said on condition of anonymity.

The U.S. military announced the arrest of a senior Iraqi National Guard commander on suspicion of ties to insurgents, underscoring the challenges to building a strong Iraq security service capable of restoring stability. Guard Brig. Gen. Talib al-Lahibi, who previously served as an infantry officer in Saddam Hussein's army, was detained Thursday in the province of Diyala, northeast of Baghdad, a U.S. military statement announced.

An Egyptian diplomat and two British Muslim leaders urged religious leaders here to help secure the release of hostages. Egyptian official Farouq Mabrouk sought help for six Egyptian telecommunications workers abducted with four Iraqis last week.

Two senior officials of the Muslim Council of Britain were in Baghdad seeking freedom for hostage Kenneth Bigley, a British civil engineer kidnapped Sept. 16 with two Americans who were later beheaded. After meeting with Muslim and Christian leaders, Daud Abdullah and Musharraf Hussain told reporters, "We cannot hold a British citizen responsible for what [British Prime Minister] Tony Blair did."

More than 140 foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq -- some by anti-U.S. insurgents and others by criminals seeking ransom. At least 26 have been killed, including the two American civil engineers, Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley.

Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday that the United States is committed to allowing all Iraqis the chance to vote, but the top U.S. military commander in the region cautioned against expecting that sort of achievement. Both Powell and Gen. John Abizaid spoke of a major political and military effort before the scheduled elections to take back areas that insurgents now control.

U.S. troops and insurgents traded fire in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, resulting in at least three people being killed and four wounded, witnesses and hospital officials said. Insurgents fired mortar rounds and rockets at two U.S. positions west and east of the city.

-- The Associated Press

• A rocket slammed into a busy Baghdad neighborhood, killing at least one person and wounding eight, hospital officials and witnesses said.

-- The Associated Press