Mortar bomb kills five near Iraq Defence Ministry

BAGHDAD, Apr 23 (Reuters) A mortar bomb killed five people near the Iraqi Defence Ministry in Baghdad today, police said.

Police said the five dead were civilians and three others were wounded.

Interior Ministry sources also said three Katyusha rockets landed near a soccer stadium in Baghdad but there were no casualties.

The attacks came one day after Iraq's president called on Shi'ite politician Jawad al-Maliki to form a national unity government many see as the best way to avert a sectarian civil war.

REUTERS CH RK1146