Suicide bomb kills 52 police recruits in Iraq

A suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowd of police recruits yesterday, killing at least 52 people.

The death toll was still rising hours after police said the bomber joined hundreds of recruits waiting to get a job and detonated his explosive-packed vest outside the police station in Tikrit, 80 miles north of Baghdad.

Ahmed Abdul-Jabbar, deputy governor of Salahuddin province, said "Who else would it be but al-Qa'ida?" The attack was the bloodiest since Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki won support in December for his reappointment.