Security developments in Iraq, Dec 22

Dec 22 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Iraq as of 1330 GMT on Friday:

BAGHDAD - One civilian was killed and seven wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near the national theatre in central Baghdad, police said.

BASRA - British troops backed by tanks seized a leader of a rogue police unit suspected of being behind the killing of 17 people in an ambush near the southern city of Basra in October, the British military said.

BAGHDAD - Three U.S. Marines and a sailor were killed in action in the western Anbar province on Thursday, the U.S. military said in a statement on Friday.

SUWAYRA - A bomb planted in a vegetable market in the town of Suwayra, 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad, wounded five people, police said.

KUT - Police found the body of a hospital employee after gunmen abducted him on Thursday in Aziziya, 75 km (50 miles) south of Baghdad.

SAMARRA - Two policemen were killed when a roadside bomb targeted their patrol in central Samarra, 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

SAMARRA - Ahmed al-Yaseen, brother of Sunni Accordance Front parliament member Abdel Kareem al-Yaseen, was killed along with his wife when a car bomb exploded in front of his home in Samarra. His four children were also wounded, police said.