British soldiers patrol a road in Basra, 550 km (340 miles) south of Baghdad. Britain's Prime Minister, Tony Blair, last Wednesday announced a timetable for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq, just as thousands of additional United States troops are arriving there to try to restore order in the city. - Reuters

BAGHDAD (Reuters):

A suicide bomber wearing a vest packed with explosives killed 40 people in a Baghdad college yesterday, a day after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki expressed optimism about a security crackdown in the capital.

Guards stopped the bomber in the lobby of the Baghdad Economy and Administration College, attended by Shi'ite Muslim and Sunni Arab students, but the man managed to blow himself up.

Police put the death toll at 40, with 35 wounded. Most of the victims were students, witnesses said.

"May God curse the terrorists," some students shouted after the attack. Others sat on the ground outside weeping.

A string of car bombings and rocket salvos also hit Baghdad yesterday as United States and Iraqi security forces stepped up efforts to drive Sunni insurgents out of the capital and stamp out Sunni-Shi'ite sectarian violence.

Washington has accused Shi'ite-dominated Iran of fuelling violence in Iraq and says sophisticated Iranian-made weapons have been increasingly used by Iraqi militias to kill U.S. troops.

But Iraqi National Security Advisor, Mowaffaq al-Rubaie, told CNN Iranians had stopped training and providing weapons to Iraqi Shi'ite militants to give the security plan a chance to work.

Changed their position

"There is no doubt in my mind that recently in the last few weeks they have changed their position and stopped a lot of their tactics and interference in Iraq's internal affairs," Rubaie said in an interview.

It was unclear if he was referring to Iran's government or other Iranians.

A professor at the Baghdad college said the attack occurred as students were leaving morning classes and arriving for afternoon lessons. Others doing exams were wounded by flying glass that tore through their classroom, the professor said.

"There were bodies everywhere," said the professor, who declined to be identified.

The blast left large pools of blood in the college's reception area. Textbooks and pens lay scattered on the floor.

The college is part of nearby Mustansiriya University, which was hit by twin bomb attacks last month that killed 70 people, mainly students.

Insurgents have repeatedly attacked universities and colleges in Baghdad, trying to strike fear into the city's middle class.

Maliki said on Saturday he was optimistic about the 10-day-old security plan, widely seen as a last chance to halt Iraq sliding into all-out civil war, and that U.S. and Iraqi forces had killed about 400 suspected militants since it began.