Developments in Iraq on May 12

May 12 (Reuters) - Following are security and political developments in Iraq on Friday as of 0700 GMT.

Iraq is trying to form a government of national unity to combat a mostly Sunni Arab insurgency. Sectarian tensions are running high since the bombing of a Shi'ite shrine in Samarra in February, which unleashed a wave of reprisal attacks.

Asterisk denotes a new or updated item.

SECURITY DEVELOPMENTS

*BALAD - An Iraqi soldier was killed and five wounded in an attack on their patrol in Balad, north of Baghdad, police said.

*NEAR SAMARRA - U.S. and Iraqi forces detained 281 people in a major sweep against suspected Sunni insurgents in Salahaddin province, north of Baghdad, a provincial security official said.

BASRA - A gunman killed a senior Sunni cleric in the southern city of Basra when he walked up to him and shot him with a pistol after he left his mosque following Friday prayers, a Sunni religious official said.

BAGHDAD - Ahmed Midhat Mahmoud, the son of a senior judge, and two of his guards were killed by gunmen in an ambush in Adhamiya, northern Baghdad, a defence ministry source said.

BALAD RUZ - Gunmen attacked a funeral in the town of Balad Ruz, 50 km (30 miles) northeast of Baquba, killing two civilians and wounding two, police and hospital sources said.

KIRKUK - Two insurgents were killed and one wounded and a fourth was detained by police when a bomb they were placing on a road exploded in Kirkuk, 250 km north of Baghdad, police said.

HAWIJA - One insurgent was killed and another was wounded on Thursday when a U.S. helicopter fired on them while they were placing a roadside bomb east of Hawija, 70 km southwest of Kirkuk, the U.S. military said.

BAGHDAD - A bomb in a parked car exploded near an office of Dawa, a major Shi'ite Islamist party, in the Zaafaraniya district in the south of the capital, but caused no casualties and little damage, police said.

BAGHDAD - The body of a man with gunshot wounds to the head and showing signs of torture, was found in Sadr City, northeastern Baghdad, an interior ministry source said.

BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol exploded in Baladiyat district, eastern Baghdad, wounding one policeman, an interior ministry source said.

DHULUIYA - Four Iraqi soldiers were killed and seven civilians were wounded in clashes between the Iraqi army and insurgents in the town of Dhuluiya, 40 km (25 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

KHAN BANI SAAD - The bodies of four people in military uniform, two of them beheaded, were found in the town of Khan Bani Saad, near Baquba north of Baghdad, police and hospital sources said.

MAHMUDIYA - Mohammed Nasser, a former senior local official in Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, was killed in a drive-by shooting near Mahmudiya, 30 km (20 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

NEAR GARMA - Four U.S. Marines drowned on Thursday when their Abrams tank rolled off a bridge and fell into a canal near the village of Garma in western Anbar province, the U.S. military said. The province is an insurgent stronghold.

TAL AFAR - Iraqi police killed two insurgents on Thursday when they attacked a police patrol in the northern city of Tal Afar, the U.S. military said.

POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS

BAGHDAD - The Fadhila party, a small but influential Shi'ite Islamist group, criticised U.S. interference and said it was pulling out of talks on forming a new government, a move which could help end Shi'ite infighting over the key oil ministry. A senior party official said they could re-join the talks however.