Iraqi leader pushes Cabinet changes as bombs kill dozens

Story Highlights

• NEW: 3 U.S., 4 British troop deaths in Iraq announced
• Iraqi PM wants to replace some Cabinet ministers, sources say
• Suicide bombers kill at least 35 in line at police recruitment center
• At least 14 other Iraqis killed in six separate bombing incidents Sunday

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was pushing for a shake-up in his government on Sunday as Baghdad suffered through another day of carnage that left dozens dead.

Al-Maliki asked parliament to let him replace some of his Cabinet ministers, according to sources in the prime minister's office and a member of the parliament.

Iraqi National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie said al-Maliki has been talking to his "inner circle" about overhauling the Cabinet for a "long time." Some ministers were incompetent and some considered their party leaders, not the prime minister, to be their boss, he said.

Al-Maliki made the request during a closed-door session, said parliament member Mahmoud Othman. (Full story)

After the session, al-Maliki noted that the Cabinet, which includes Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish representatives, was already formed before he was chosen to be prime minister in April.

"I have said repeatedly that this Cabinet was not my choice," al-Maliki told reporters. He said he would have selected "other than the current ministers or at least some of them."

Al-Rubaie said some ministers are acting as individuals, not as members of a national unity government. He said they were not "singing from the same song sheet."

The prime minister was responding in part to public charges by lawmakers that the government was complicit in the killing of members of the Sunni minority, even as some Shiites in the government claimed al-Maliki was being unduly harsh in dealing with Shiite militia members, The Associated Press reported.

Bombings in Baghdad

Meanwhile, Baghdad endured another deadly day.

Two suicide bombers strapped with explosives killed at least 35 Iraqis and wounded 60 more Sunday outside the national police headquarters in western Baghdad, an emergency police official said.

The victims were among dozens of men waiting outside the recruitment center to join the police force when the suicide bombers detonated their explosives belts.

At least 14 other people died in six separate bombings in Baghdad Sunday, police said. (Watch bombing victims rushed to hospitals -- 2:54)

Four people died and 10 were wounded when a car bomb exploded near the Interior Ministry complex in central Baghdad.

Three Iraqis were killed and 15 wounded when a car bomb exploded in a crowded street in Yusufiya south of Baghdad.

Two people were killed and 15 wounded when a roadside bomb exploded on a busy street in southwestern Baghdad's Radhwaniya district.

Three people were killed and seven wounded when a car bomb and a roadside bomb detonated within minutes of each other near Tayaran Square, a busy area in central Baghdad where day laborers gather.

One Iraqi was killed and five wounded when a car bomb exploded near an outdoor market in central Baghdad's Karrada district.

And one person was killed and six wounded when a car bomb exploded in southwestern Baghdad's Um al-Maalif neighborhood.

Iraqi police found 22 bullet-riddled bodies on streets in Baghdad Sunday, a Baghdad police official said.

A high-ranking Iraqi Interior Ministry official, who asked to remain unidentified since he is not authorized to release information, told CNN that 1,460 bodies were taken to Baghdad's central morgue last month .

Seven coalition troops killed

Three U.S. soldiers died Saturday from wounds suffered due to enemy action while operating in Anbar province, the U.S. military said Sunday.

The soldiers, whose names have not been released, were assigned to the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, the military said.

With the deaths, 2,847 U.S. military personnel have died in the Iraq war, including seven civilian Defense Department employees. November's death toll is now 29.

Four British servicemen were killed and three others suffered serious wounds Sunday when their patrol boat was attacked on a waterway in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, Britain's Ministry of Defense said. The British military death toll in the Iraq war is 125.

Al Qaeda in Iraq suspects captured

Coalition forces captured 10 suspected leaders of al Qaeda in Iraq in a Baghdad raid on Sunday, a Multi-National Corps - Iraq statement said.

The captures came a day after a U.S.-led coalition patrol repelled an insurgent attack in the Euphrates River city of Hit, about 100 miles northwest of Baghdad, the military said.

Three insurgents were killed and three escaped, the military said.

CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.