In Iraq, a suicide bomber killed 21 people in the town of Kirkuk Tuesday. In Tikrit, mortar shelling disrupted a ceremony marking the transfer of one of Saddam Hussein’s palaces from American to Iraqi control. The shell failed to explode but forced U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and military commander General George Casey to take cover inside the palace. Meanwhile, a senior Sunni leader is dead after gunmen wearing Iraqi army uniforms broke into his home and killed him. Khadim Sarhid al-Hemaiyem was the leader of the Sunni Batta tribe and the brother of a parliamentary candidate in the December 15 election. Three of his brothers were also killed. Meanwhile, an adviser to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said a representative from an insurgent group had accepted a government offer to negotiate with those willing to lay down their arms. The adviser did not name the group.