Australia ? Iraq’s leader called recent deadly bombings in Baghdad a “lapse” after a calm period, insisting today that terrorists were no longer capable of disrupting efforts to bring security to the country.

Two suicide attacks this week that killed at least 63 people represent a jump in deadly violence near the Iraqi capital as President Barack Obama and allies including Australia implement plans to draw down troops and hand over to domestic security forces.

“There is no doubt that was a lapse to a good period of calm in Iraq,” Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told reporters through an interpreter, in his first comments on the bombings.

But al-Maliki said “al-Qaida, extremists and terrorists in Iraq have lost their capabilities of confronting and challenging the security forces in Iraq.”