A car bomb ripped through a police station south of Baghdad yesterday killing about 50 people, in the latest attack on Iraqis seen as collaborators with US occupation forces.
The bombing came after US officials said 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.
A reporter said he had counted at least 20 bodies outside a hospital in the small town of Iskandariya, 40km south of Baghdad. But the director of the local hospital said the explosion killed around 50 people.
PHOTO: REUTERS
"There are around 50 martyrs, 30 of whom have been identified, and dozens wounded," Dr. Tahsim Ahmad said at Iskandariya hospital, near the site of the attack.
The hospital's director, Razak Jannabi, said: "Thirty dead have been brought here, I believe that number is rising. I believe it's at 49."
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, 110km 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 US killed more than 100 people on Feb. 1.
Ramadi and surrounding areas, at the heart of the so-called Sunni triangle where resentment of the US is strongest, have seen scores of attacks on US forces.
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 destabilize 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 Shiite Muslim majority, whom Arab Sunnis and Kurds fear could dominate a future government.
In Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell said the letter showed al-Qaeda was under pressure but had not given up.
"With respect to the letter itself, it's very revealing. They describe the weaknesses they have in their efforts to undercut the coalition's effort," Powell said.
Iraq's US occupiers have long said they suspect al-Qaeda has played a role in the insurgency against US troops and particularly in attacks on civilian targets in Iraq.
In New York, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan spoke to Security Council members about the electoral team he sent to Baghdad on Saturday to see whether elections could be held quickly, as Shiites want, or recommend alternatives for selecting Iraqi leaders before the US relinquishes power 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."
He 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.
Annan said the team would soon meet Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most revered cleric among Iraq's Shiites, who make up 60 percent of the population.
The paramount chief of a volcanic island in Vanuatu yesterday said that he was “very impressed” by a UN court’s declaration that countries must tackle climate change. Vanuatu spearheaded the legal case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, which on Wednesday ruled that countries have a duty to protect against the threat of a warming planet. “I’m very impressed,” George Bumseng, the top chief of the Pacific archipelago’s island of Ambrym, told reporters in the capital, Port Vila. “We have been waiting for this decision for a long time because we have been victims of this climate change for
MASSIVE LOSS: If the next recall votes also fail, it would signal that the administration of President William Lai would continue to face strong resistance within the legislature The results of recall votes yesterday dealt a blow to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) efforts to overturn the opposition-controlled legislature, as all 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers survived the recall bids. Backed by President William Lai’s (賴清德) DPP, civic groups led the recall drive, seeking to remove 31 out of 39 KMT lawmakers from the 113-seat legislature, in which the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) together hold a majority with 62 seats, while the DPP holds 51 seats. The scale of the recall elections was unprecedented, with another seven KMT lawmakers facing similar votes on Aug. 23. For a
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
All 24 lawmakers of the main opposition Chinese Nationalists Party (KMT) on Saturday survived historical nationwide recall elections, ensuring that the KMT along with Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers will maintain opposition control of the legislature. Recall votes against all 24 KMT lawmakers as well as Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) and KMT legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) failed to pass, according to Central Election Commission (CEC) figures. In only six of the 24 recall votes did the ballots cast in favor of the recall even meet the threshold of 25 percent of eligible voters needed for the recall to pass,
RSS