Suicide bomber kills 50 at police station

ISKANDARIYA – A massive car bomb killed 50 people at a police station south of Baghdad on Tuesday as civilians lined up to apply for jobs, in one of the deadliest suicide attacks on Iraqis working with US occupation forces.

The bombing came after US officials claimed an Islamic militant with links to Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda network was plotting to ignite a civil war in Iraq to undermine efforts to hand over power to Iraqis. “There are around 50 martyrs, 30 of whom have been identified, and dozens wounded,” Dr Tahsin Ahmad told Reuters at the hospital in Iskandariya, 40 km south of Baghdad.The hospital’s director, Dr Razak Jannabi, said: “Thirty dead have been brought here, I believe that number is rising. I believe it’s at 49″.A Reuters reporter said he had counted at least 20 bodies outside the building.Inside the hospital, staff frantically tried to mop up pools of blood with soap and water.”It was a car (bomb) that was parked outside the station,” policeman Sadeq Khodeir told Reuters.”It brought down part of the building and the court house”.Deputy Iraqi Interior Minister Ahmed Kadhim, confirming the death toll, said the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber.”It was a 1985 pick-up truck. The suicide bomber was inside,” Kadhim told Reuters.He said most of the casualties were Iraqi civilians who had flocked to the station to apply for jobs with the police service.US forces cordoned off roads leading to the blast site.Earlier yesterday, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the house of Amer Suleiman, chief of the al-Duleimi tribe in the area and head of the local US-appointed authority in the restive town of Ramadi, 110 km west of the capital, wounding four bodyguards.The attacks followed a pattern of targeting Iraqis seen as collaborators with the US occupation.Twin suicide bombings in northern Iraq against two Kurdish parties allied with the United States killed more than 100 people on February 1.Iraqi officials say 300 policemen — who have been regular targets of suicide bombings — have been killed by insurgents.The US-trained force is a pillar of US plans to put Iraqis in charge of security before a June 30 transfer of sovereignty.AL QAEDA PLOT?US troops said on Monday they had seized a computer disc containing a letter from Abu Musab Zarqawi, who Washington links to Ansar al-Islam, outlining plans to destabilise Iraq.The US says the group, which operates in northern Iraq, is affiliated to al Qaeda.”There is clearly a plan on the part of outsiders to come into this country and spark civil war, breed sectarian violence and try to expose fissures in the society,” said Brigadier- General Mark Kimmitt, the top US military spokesman in Iraq.Dan Senor, chief spokesman for Iraq’s US governor Paul Bremer, said the 17-page letter proposed attacks on shrines and leaders of Iraq’s Shi’ite Muslim majority, whom Arab Sunnis and Kurds fear could dominate a future government.In New York, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan spoke to UN Security Council members about the electoral team he sent to Baghdad on Saturday to see whether elections could be held soon, as demanded by Shi’ites, or to recommend an alternative way to pick leaders to take power from the United States on June 30.”I am concerned that there is no consensus yet on the best way to handle the transition,” Annan said, according to his speaking notes.”Many Iraqis have been calling for elections before June 30. Others disagree and prefer other options for choosing the members of Iraq transitional institutions”.Annan told reporters the team, led by veteran UN official Lakhdar Brahimi, a former Algerian foreign minister, had met members of the coalition and a variety of Iraqis.He said the team would soon meet Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most revered cleric among Iraq’s Shi’ites, who make up 60 percent of the population.- Nampa-Reuters”There are around 50 martyrs, 30 of whom have been identified, and dozens wounded,” Dr Tahsin Ahmad told Reuters at the hospital in Iskandariya, 40 km south of Baghdad. The hospital’s director, Dr Razak Jannabi, said: “Thirty dead have been brought here, I believe that number is rising. I believe it’s at 49”. A Reuters reporter said he had counted at least 20 bodies outside the building. Inside the hospital, staff frantically tried to mop up pools of blood with soap and water. “It was a car (bomb) that was parked outside the station,” policeman Sadeq Khodeir told Reuters. “It brought down part of the building and the court house”. Deputy Iraqi Interior Minister Ahmed Kadhim, confirming the death toll, said the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber. “It was a 1985 pick-up truck. The suicide bomber was inside,” Kadhim told Reuters. He said most of the casualties were Iraqi civilians who had flocked to the station to apply for jobs with the police service. US forces cordoned off roads leading to the blast site. Earlier yesterday, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the house of Amer Suleiman, chief of the al-Duleimi tribe in the area and head of the local US-appointed authority in the restive town of Ramadi, 110 km west of the capital, wounding four bodyguards. The attacks followed a pattern of targeting Iraqis seen as collaborators with the US occupation. Twin suicide bombings in northern Iraq against two Kurdish parties allied with the United States killed more than 100 people on February 1. Iraqi officials say 300 policemen — who have been regular targets of suicide bombings — have been killed by insurgents. The US-trained force is a pillar of US plans to put Iraqis in charge of security before a June 30 transfer of sovereignty. AL QAEDA PLOT? US troops said on Monday they had seized a computer disc containing a letter from Abu Musab Zarqawi, who Washington links to Ansar al-Islam, outlining plans to destabilise Iraq. The US says the group, which operates in northern Iraq, is affiliated to al Qaeda. “There is clearly a plan on the part of outsiders to come into this country and spark civil war, breed sectarian violence and try to expose fissures in the society,” said Brigadier- General Mark Kimmitt, the top US military spokesman in Iraq. Dan Senor, chief spokesman for Iraq’s US governor Paul Bremer, said the 17-page letter proposed attacks on shrines and leaders of Iraq’s Shi’ite Muslim majority, whom Arab Sunnis and Kurds fear could dominate a future government. In New York, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan spoke to UN Security Council members about the electoral team he sent to Baghdad on Saturday to see whether elections could be held soon, as demanded by Shi’ites, or to recommend an alternative way to pick leaders to take power from the United States on June 30. “I am concerned that there is no consensus yet on the best way to handle the transition,” Annan said, according to his speaking notes. “Many Iraqis have been calling for elections before June 30. Others disagree and prefer other options for choosing the members of Iraq transitional institutions”. Annan told reporters the team, led by veteran UN official Lakhdar Brahimi, a former Algerian foreign minister, had met members of the coalition and a variety of Iraqis. He said the team would soon meet Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most revered cleric among Iraq’s Shi’ites, who make up 60 percent of the population. – Nampa-Reuters