Iraqi policeman picks up still smoking schoolbooks at scene of  roadside bomb, April 5, 2006 in central Baghdad

Two car bombs exploded in separate incidents in Baghdad Wednesday, killing at least one person and wounding about 30 others.

Also today, the U.S. military said coalition forces captured nine insurgents and killed one in a raid on a site known for safe houses in Yusifiyah, south of Baghdad.

Military officials also say Iraqi soldiers and police rescued three Iraqis who were kidnapped in the northern town of Mosul. And another statement says an Iraqi court convicted 22 detainees for such crimes as coordinating deadly attacks and joining terrorist groups.

Saddam Hussein argues with Chief Judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman during his trial Wednesday, April 5, 2006

Separately, Saddam Hussein spent the day in court answering questions, as his trial resumed for the killing of more than 140 Shi'ite Muslims in 1982.

The trial is expected to continue on Thursday.

Iraqi prosecutors plan a separate trial for Saddam on charges of genocide against Iraq's Kurds in the 1980s.

In other news, Iraq's embattled prime minister is refusing to give up his candidacy to lead the country's next government, despite strong appeals from within the Shi'ite alliance and the West.

Ibrahim al-Jaafari told Britain's Guardian newspaper his nomination by majority Shi'ite legislators was a "democratic process" that must be followed.

Jaafari's candidacy is one of the main sticking points blocking efforts to form a national unity government in Iraq.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.