Suicide bomber strikes at UN checkpoint
A suicide car bomber has killed an Iraqi policeman and himself at a road checkpoint behind the UN headquarters in Baghdad.
Eleven people were injured in the blast at the entrance to a car park next to the UN compound at the Canal Hotel.
The attack was next to the scene of the bombing last month that killed about 20 people, including the UN's top envoy in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello.
Master Sgt Hassan al-Saadi says he was told by injured policemen a gray 1995 Opel with Baghdad license plates approached the entrance to the parking.
"A guard went to search the car, opened the boot and the car exploded, killing him and the driver. When I arrived, there was fire and smoke, even the guard's body was ablaze," he said.
Capt Sean Kirley, of the US 2nd Armoured Cavalry Regiment, said the Iraq police had a warning of the attack shortly before it happened.
"It appeared to have been a suicide bombing. The bomber drove up and was engaged by an Iraqi security individual just before the checkpoint," Capt Kirley said at the scene.
Authorities identified the dead policeman as 23-year-old Salam Mohammed. Eleven other people, mostly policemen, were wounded.
