Iraq: US citizen sentenced to life in prison; bomb attack in Baghdad kills 4

An American citizen has been sentenced to life in prison for helping Al Qaeda and financing terrorist activities in Iraq.

Separately, at least four people were killed in a car bomb attack targeting a foreign security convoy in Baghdad on Thursday.

The Associated Press cited an Interior Ministry statement as saying Omar Rashad Khalil, 53, an architectural engineer, was recruited by Al Qaeda in 2005 after entering Iraq in 2001.

The Interior Ministry released excerpts of what it said was a confession by in which he admits to receiving money to pay for terror attacks.

Khalil, also known as Abu Mohammed, was sentenced by Baghdad's central criminal court.

A spokesman for the US Embassy in Baghdad declined immediate comment.

The parked car bomb went off in the upscale Mansour district, Press TV reported, narrowly missing a passing the convoy.

The Australian Associated Press cited a medical source from Al-Yarmuk hospital as confirming four bodies were brought in, with another 14 people wounded.

The attack comes amid an uptick in bombings and shootings — Press TV cited official figures as showing that September was the bloodiest month in Iraq in nearly two years, with 365 people killed.

Security companies are targeted over their "perceived arrogant behavior," AAP wrote, and violence often follows them.

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