Reports from Iraq say last-minute disagreements are threatening Thursday's plan to announce a new cabinet, nearly three months after elections.

The country's Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish factions have been locked in negotiations over the makeup of the government.

Meanwhile, a bomb blast hit a convoy carrying foreign contractors on the road to Baghdad's airport, killing at least two people and wounding several others. Nationalities of the victims were not immediately known.

Al-Qaida in Iraq posted a statement on the Internet, claiming it had tried to assassinate interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. Mr. Allawi escaped unhurt, but one policeman was killed, when a suicide bomber blew up his car near the prime minister's motorcade in Baghdad Wednesday.

Also Wednesday, more than 50 bodies were recovered from the Tigris River. Authorities say the victims are believed to be the people reported kidnapped last week from Madaen.

The bodies of 19 Iraqis believed to be soldiers and killed execution style were found in the town of Haditha, north of Baghdad.