[Anglo]

28/07/2008 .We should withdraw all the troops now and let the Muslims do the job themselves.

The White House is insisting that the violence in Iraq is diminishing; however, facts demonstrate the opposite. This Monday was a bloody day. A number of attacks left at least 50 dead and more than 300 injured, leading Iraqi authorities to declare a curfew in Baghdad and Kirkuk, 250 kilometers north of this capital, EFE reports.

The worst incidents were in the capital, where at least 26 Shiite pilgrims died and another 117 were injured, according to medical sources, in three explosions that came within a few minutes of each other.

Meanwhile, in Kirkuk, at least 22 people died and 187 were wounded in an attack by an unknown suicide bomber wearing an explosives belt, which he detonated in the city center, and in a subsequent firefight.

Four individuals also died when a homemade bomb exploded in the path of their vehicle close to Baquba, 60 kilometers northeast of Baghdad.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad Bolani affirmed that the United States and Iraq are in the process of reaching an agreement on the number of U.S. troops that will remain in the country before the end of 2008.