Blast kills U.S. soldier in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A U.S. soldier was killed Saturday when a roadside bomb detonated near his vehicle in the southeastern Iraqi province of Maysan, the U.S. military said.

The U.S. military said it would withhold the soldier's name until it notifies the soldier's next of kin.

The blast, which happened south of Amara, brings the toll for U.S. troops in Iraq to 4,181.

Also in Iraq, U.S. forces have arrested a member of an Iraqi Awakening Council for threatening local residents, the U.S. military said.

The soldiers arrested the man Friday after a tip from a "concerned Iraqi citizen," the military said. They brought him to a combat outpost for further processing.

Awakening Councils are made up mainly of former Sunni insurgents who turned against al Qaeda in Iraq. The U.S. military credits them with having played a key role in bringing about the nationwide drop in violence that coincided with the "surge" of U.S. forces.

Last month, the U.S. military announced it would start transferring control of the Awakening Councils to the Iraqi government in October, starting with 54,000 members in Baghdad province. Watch violence break out in Baghdad »

The U.S. military has said it pays the Baghdad province members' average monthly cost of $15 million. Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said last month his government would pay council members for a year.

Al-Dabbagh said the members would eventually have to find other jobs as the country's security situation stabilizes.

Members of the Awakening movement, targeted frequently by al Qaeda in Iraq in recent months, have complained they receive little or no support from the Shiite-dominated government. Most of these groups' members want to be integrated into the Iraqi Security Forces, but few have been.

In a move that heightened tensions with the Awakening movement, the government recently issued a list bearing the names of Awakening leaders it wanted detained.

U.S. forces on Friday also detained four people in two neighborhoods of southern Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

Also Friday, a Kurdish journalist was killed in a drive-by shooting in central Kirkuk, an official with the Kirkuk police told CNN.

Dyar Abbas Ahmed worked with Ain, an Iraqi news agency, the police official said. Kirkuk is about 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of Baghdad.

Security arrangement talks progress

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Friday that a security arrangement with the United States has "reached the final stages" with ongoing negotiations about some sticking points.

"The U.S. side was cooperative with us, especially regarding the issue of determining the time of the withdrawal of its troops from Iraq," al-Maliki said, according to a statement issued by his office Friday.

Al-Maliki spoke after visiting the holy city of Najaf and meeting with Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric, al-Maliki's office said.

The prime minister said the meeting was intended to inform al-Sistani about government construction and rebuilding projects.

Turkey attacks Kurdish area

Turkey launched another round of airstrikes overnight against Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq, the Turkish military and regional Kurdish security forces said Saturday.

Turkish warplanes hit 31 targets in the Hakurk region, "successfully completed the operation (and) safely returned to their bases," the military said.

A spokesman for the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Security Forces said Turkish warplanes and artillery units bombed the region from around 11 p.m. Friday until 1 a.m. Saturday.

The spokesman, Jabbar Yawer, said no casualties were reported.

Turkish artillery shells also hit border villages in the Zakho area, targeting positions of the PKK, or Kurdistan Workers' Party, Yawer said. The shelling lasted for about an hour Saturday afternoon, he said.

Turkey said it was the sixth time in the past week it has attacked the PKK in response to clashes that left at least 15 Turkish troops dead in the Turkey-Iraq border region last Saturday.

The central Iraqi government has labeled the PKK a terrorist organization, banning its activities and closing its offices in the country two years ago. The United States and the European Union also consider the PKK a terrorist group.

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