Suspected al Qaeda Bomb in Baghdad kills 27

1.00pm

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A suspected al Qaeda-linked car bomb shattered a Baghdad hotel and neighbouring houses in the heart of the Iraqi capital Wednesday, killing 27 people and wounding about 40, including some Westerners.

US troops and Iraqi rescue services rushed to pull bodies from the rubble of the five-story Mount Lebanon Hotel, used mainly by Iraqis and Arabs, and the houses as a column of flames and smoke soared into the night sky from the blast.

Local residents helped carry away the dead, some with missing body parts. Rescuers, some using their bare hands and torches for light, worked amid pools of blood, broken glass and mangled concrete to find survivors and pull out bodies.

Iraqi officials said most of the victims were Iraqis. The US military said no Westerners were reported dead but some US civilians and two British citizens were among the wounded.

"I heard the explosion and I ran down the street, and saw many, many people killed. There were children dead," said Raad Abdul Karim, 30.

SUSPECTED AL QAEDA LINK

"We have 27 killed and 40 wounded. The bomb was 1,000 pounds of explosives packed with artillery shells," a US military spokesman said.

"Our indications are that this attack follows the pattern of Ansar al-Islam and Zarqawi," the spokesman said.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is a suspected al Qaeda member accused by Washington of trying to spark civil war in Iraq. Ansar al Islam is a Muslim militant group believed linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda.

Two private houses were damaged by the blast and three members of one family were unaccounted for.

Residents said the neighbourhood was populated by Iraq's main population groups -- Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurds.

"They are ordinary families," one man said.

Lt. Col. Peter Jones said the hotel had 15 staff and 10 British, Lebanese, Egyptian, Jordanian guests.

The blast, which occurred three days before the first anniversary of the start of US-led war to oust Saddam Hussein, carved out a huge crater in the road outside the hotel.

The car bomb exploded less than a week after suspected Muslim militants bombed four packed commuter trains in Madrid train bombings, killing 201 people.

Guerrillas fighting the US-led occupation of Iraq have mounted a number of car bomb and other attacks in Baghdad in recent months, and hotels have been targeted several times.

President Bush's administration, which has blamed attacks on supporters of Saddam as well as foreign Islamic militants, vowed the blast would not sway US determination to bring democracy to Iraq.

'TEST OF STRENGTH'

"We will meet this test with strength and resolve. Democracy is taking root in Iraq and there is no turning back," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

"We will continue to stay to finish the job for the Iraqi people," McClellan said.

The US military said "Operation Iron Promise," a new US offensive aimed at hunting down guerrillas in Baghdad, would go on through the night as planned despite the attack.

The U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council agreed to invite a United Nations team to advise on setting up an interim government by June 30 -- despite misgivings among the country's majority Shi'ite Muslims who are suspicious of the world body.

Washington wants the United Nations to help choose the mechanism for selecting an unelected Iraqi government that will take over sovereignty at the end of June, believing UN involvement will help legitimize the process.

Wednesday's invitation by the Governing Council paves the way for another UN visit to work on the political road map.

A UN team traveled to Iraq last month at the request of the US-led administration to gauge whether early elections were feasible, after top Shi'ite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani -- a major influence on his people -- demanded polls by June 30.

The UN team agreed with the US assessment that elections were not possible until late 2004 at the earliest, and following the UN report Sistani put back his deadline and said he wanted polls by the end of the year.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq