Developments in Iraq, March 4

March 4 (Reuters) - The following are security incidents and political developments in Iraq as of 1145 GMT on Saturday.

U.S. and Iraqi forces have been battling a Sunni Arab insurgency against the Shi'ite- and Kurdish-led government in Baghdad since U.S. troops toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.

A wave of sectarian killing since a bombing of a Shi'ite shrine on Feb. 22 has killed more than 500 people, by conservative estimates.

Asterisk denotes a new or updated item.

SECURITY INCIDENTS

BAGHDAD - Seven people were killed and 20 injured when a mortar round hit a crowded market near a bus station in a town just southeast of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - Two civilians were killed and three policemen injured when a car bomb detonated near a police checkpoint in southeast of Baghdad, police said.

*BAGHDAD - A mortar round landed near a building in the green zone 15 minutes after the Interior Minister Bayan Jabur had given a news conference there, a source from the Interior Ministry said. No details of casualties or damage were available, they said.

*BAQUBA - Six policemen were injured when a roadside bomb exploded near their patrol in Baquba 65 km (40 miles) to the north of Baghdad, police said. In a separate incident a girl was killed and eight other civilians injured when a roadside bomb exploded in Baquba, police said.

POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS

* Gen. John Abizaid, the Central Command chief who oversees military operations in the Middle East, met Prime Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaafari and President Jalal Talabani during a visit to Baghdad.