BAGHDAD (Reuters):

A suicide bomber killed 35 people at a police recruiting centre yesterday as Iraq's Prime Minister announced a Cabinet reshuffle in an apparent response to his government's failure to rein in sectarian violence.

The blast, claimed by an al-Qaida-linked Sunni militant group, also wounded 58 people when a bomber wearing an explosive vest walked into a crowd of young men lining up outside a police commando recruiting centre in Baghdad.

It was the bloodiest attack in months against recruits hoping to join Iraq's fledgling security forces, a key part of Washington's plan for an eventual withdrawal of its troops.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who heads a six-month-old unity government of Shi'ites, Sunnis and ethnic Kurds, told a closed session of Parliament he was unhappy about their performance and announced sweeping changes in the Cabinet.