http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/international/ticker/detail/Iraq_deaths_down_despite_new_Baghdad_carnage.html?siteSect=143&sid=7024103&cKey=1157132329000BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Violent deaths among civilians in Iraq may have fallen by a quarter last month, statistics indicated on Friday, despite a bloody week in Baghdad that ended with 70 dead in a series of explosions late on Thursday.
The partial data, provided by Iraq's Interior Ministry and based on figures from the Health Ministry, tend to confirm U.S. military confidence that a crackdown in the capital has slowed the bloodletting but also that dozens are still dying every day.
A Pentagon report showed Iraqi deaths in the past quarter rose by a half over three months earlier, as sectarian strife has become the "core conflict" and created a risk of civil war.
A day after President George W. Bush launched a pre-election series of speeches defending further U.S. military engagement in Iraq, James Baker, who was secretary of state under Bush's father, met Iraqi leaders as head of a group charged by Congress and the White House with reviewing Washington's options in Iraq.