At least eight Iraqis killed in Baghdad bomb blast
A bomb exploded alongside a group of Iraqi men waiting for work in eastern Baghdad today, killing at least eight and wounding more than 50.
The blast happened hours before the scheduled resumption of the trial of Saddam Hussein and at least seven co-defendants on accusations of involvement in the 1982 killings of more than 140 people, but it was unclear whether the two events were linked.
Col. Ahmed Abboud, chief of police in the New Baghdad area where the explosion happened, cited eyewitnesses, saying a man placed a bag full of explosives near a cart that sold tea to men waiting near a crowded intersection for a day’s work.
“The people did not suspect him when he first came with the bag because all workers carry their food in bags,” Abboud said.
The attack happened at about 7am local time near the Sunni Muslim al-Samaraei mosque in the New Baghdad neighbourhood. Police sealed off the area and the wounded were taken to several nearby hospitals.
Abboud and another police official, Capt. Mohammed Jassim Jaber, said at least eight people were killed and more than 50 wounded.
Initial reports from multiple police officials claimed that the explosion was caused by a suicide bomber wearing an explosives-packed belt.
The blast showered the area in shattered glass from shop windows and blood covered the pavement. Pink rubber gloves, blue overalls and white boots were among the belongings of the victims that scattered the area.
It was unclear why the workers were targeted and the officials said there were no security forces near the scene of the bombing.
Also today, a roadside bomb blast missed a US patrol but killed one civilian and wounded two others in the town of Amiriyah, 25 miles west of Baghdad, said police Lt. Maitham Abdul-Razzaq.
Another roadside bomb exploded in central Baqouba, 35 miles north-east of Baghdad, killing one civilian and wounding three others, said Diyala police’s Joint Co-ordination Centre.
Despite repeated calls by local political and religious leaders for an end to the violence, bombings, shootings and assassinations continue apace throughout Iraq and are inflaming sectarian tensions in the process.
The violence is clouding ongoing negotiations to form a new unified national government comprising Iraq’s Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni Arab communities. The United States is backing efforts for the government to include the Sunni Arabs, from whose numbers the bulk of Iraq’s insurgents come.
Meanwhile, US troops fired on a Canadian diplomatic vehicle that failed to obey signals by the military forces to stop in Baghdad on Tuesday, but there were no casualties caused, military spokesman Lt. Col. Barry Johnson said.
A spokeswoman at the Canadian Embassy in neighbouring Jordan said four Canadian diplomats, including the acting ambassador, were travelling in one vehicle when the incident happened.
“We are aware of this incident and the American and Canadian authorities are looking into it,” said the spokeswoman, who declined to be identified further in line with embassy policy.
The incident happened inside the heavily fortified Green Zone, which is the base of numerous foreign missions and the Iraqi government, after the troops signalled to a “convoy” approaching them to stop.
“But the convoy continued to approach and failed to stop, and the soldiers fired warning rounds at the front of the vehicles, resulting in no injuries,” Johnson said. “After checking, it was found that the vehicles belonged to the Canadian Embassy.”
Johnson said an investigation was underway into the circumstances of the incident “to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again”.
The Canadian government does not have an embassy in Iraq, but is expected to open one later this year, the diplomat in the Jordanian capital, Amman said. Canadian diplomats regularly travel between Iraq and Jordan.
Saddam’s defence lawyers said they have written to the Iraqi High Tribunal to demand that Raouf Rasheed Abdel-Rahman, who was named chief judge last week, be removed from the current trial and any other legal proceedings against Saddam.
If the judge, a Kurd, is not removed, Khalil al-Dulaimi and Khamis al-Obeidi threatened to boycott the proceedings. Al-Dulaimi also said Saddam would boycott today’s trial session.
The two Iraqi lawyers said that they believed Abdel-Rahman was biased because his hometown of Halabja was subjected to a 1988 poison gas attack allegedly ordered by the former president that killed some 5,000 Kurds, including several of the judge’s relatives.
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