BAGHDAD, Iraq – Four American soldiers and their Iraqi interpreter were killed by a roadside bomb yesterday and at least two dozen Iraqis died in violence across the country, as politicians worked on a government they hope will restore security.

Meanwhile, the kidnappers of a United Arab Emirates diplomat in Iraq demanded the closing of the country’s embassy in Baghdad in a videotape aired on Arab television. Al-Jazeera TV did not air audio with the video, which showed a man said to be the hostage, Naji Rashid al-Nuaimi, 28, who was abducted by gunmen Tuesday in Baghdad.

In violence around Iraq, clashes broke out in the Sunni Arab city of Ramadi – an insurgent stronghold and the capital of western Anbar province. Ramadi hospital reported at least one Iraqi was killed when his car was hit by a mortar.

Iraqi police said four officers were killed and three wounded in a mortar attack apparently targeting an American base in nearby Fallujah.

The American soldiers and their Iraqi interpreter died when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb northwest of Baghdad, the U.S. command said. It had earlier said an American sailor died Wednesday in Anbar province.

Gunmen stopped a minibus in southwestern Baghdad and killed all eight Iraqis on board – a group of car mechanics and the driver. And a roadside bomb exploded near a police patrol in northern Baghdad’s Waziriya neighborhood, killing three police officers and five bystanders.