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Bomber killls 20 near coalition hq Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040118/D805CDPG0.htmlhttp://apnews.myway.com/article/20040118/D805CDPG0.html
Bomber Kills 20 Near Coalition HQ in Iraq
Jan 18, 12:48 PM (ET)
By SARAH EL DEEB
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A suicide bomber blew up a pickup truck packed with 1,000 pounds of explosives outside the headquarters of the U.S.-led coalition Sunday, killing about 20 people and injuring more than 60 - most of them Iraqis.
The attack on a chill, foggy morning in the heart of Baghdad was the deadliest in Iraq since the capture of Saddam Hussein on Dec. 13 near his hometown of Tikrit. The blast occurred a day before the top U.S. civil administrator in Iraq was to meet with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to ask for the world body's help in rebuilding the country.
The bomb exploded at 8 a.m. just feet from the gateway to Saddam's former Republican Palace complex, now the U.S. headquarters and one of the most heavily defended areas in the Iraqi capital. The area was crowded with military vehicles and hundreds of Iraqis employed by the U.S. coalition waiting in line for vigorous security checks to get inside.
Witnesses said the driver of the truck bomb tried to bypass the line, coming as close as possible to the complex entrance arch dubbed "Assassins' Gate" by U.S. troops.
A U.S. military spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity, said about 20 people were killed and 63 were wounded. The military initially said two of the dead were Americans working for the Pentagon but later retracted the statement, saying their nationalities were unknown but they were not Defense Department employees.
The wounded included three U.S. civilians and three American soldiers, the military said. The rest of the victims were believed to be Iraqis.
"Once again, it is innocent Iraqis who have been murdered by these terrorists in a senseless act of violence," U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer said in a statement. "Our determination to work for a stable and democratic future for this country is undiminished."
The Governing Council blamed the "heinous crime" on terrorists allied with Saddam. "This is yet another stigma on the foreheads of the mass grave regime and its terrorist allies inside and outside (the country), who have no value for sacred things or human lives," the council said in a statement.
On Monday, Bremer is to meet with Annan at the United Nations in New York to discuss possible solutions to a political deadlock over a U.S. plan to hand over power to a provisional Iraqi government by June 30.
Annan withdrew all international U.N. staff from Iraq after two bombings at U.N. headquarters - one a 2,200-pound car bomb that killed 22 people including top U.N. envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello - and a spate of attacks on humanitarian targets. Annan's concern has been whether the situation was secure enough for the world body to return.
Bremer, in Washington, called the bombing "another clear indication of the murderous and cynical intent of terrorists to undermine freedom, democracy and progress in Iraq. They will not succeed."
Also Sunday, the military reported that an explosive device being transported in a car exploded Saturday near a U.S. Army patrol in the central city of Tikrit, Saddam's hometown, killing two Iraqis in the vehicle including a relative of Saddam. There were no U.S. casualties, and the military did not draw a connection between it and the truck bomb in Baghdad.
The explosives Sunday were packed inside a white Toyota pickup truck, said Col. Ralph Baker, division commander of the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Armored Division. He discounted witness accounts that more than one vehicle was involved.
"There was not a second car bomb," said Baker, who is in charge of security in the so-called "Green Zone," a large swath of land on the west bank of the Tigris River that contains the U.S. headquarters compound.
Brig. Gen. Mark Hertling, deputy commander of the 1st Armored Division, said the blast occurred "literally at the last point a vehicle could get to without being stopped. The barriers absorbed most of the blast."
Some of the Iraqis killed had been waiting to go through security checks when the bomb exploded.
"My friend was standing behind me in the line when the explosion happened," said Nabil Abdul Zahar. "There were lots of injured. I called for help and no one came to help me. He died right there on the ground."
Also in line was Mohammed Jabbar, who works at the Ministry of Planning. The explosion "lifted us into the air," he said. "People fell on top of one another."
The gate includes an arch built a few years ago by Saddam in imitation of those that protected ancient Baghdad from Persian invaders. It was nicknamed Assassins' Gate by American troops after they seized the capital in April.
One witness, Salah Farhan, said he was going through the checkpoint when he saw the vehicle try to cut to the head of the line and explode about two cars back from the gate. U.S. troops guarding the gate took cover when they saw the vehicle advancing.
The coalition headquarters is one of the most heavily protected areas in Baghdad. U.S. soldiers guarding the gate usually stand about 20 yards from the road behind coils of barbed wire and concrete barriers.
Karar Abbas, an Iraqi civil defense trooper, said the blast engulfed seven cars parked along the street. At least three separate fires were seen after the blast. One man was seen lying motionless on the side of the road as coalition soldiers and civilians helped the wounded.
Several of the wounded squatted helplessly on the ground. Some, shocked and weeping, were comforted by bystanders. One wounded man was carried away in what looked like a bed sheet.
Coalition tanks also moved in near the blazes.
Iraqi police announced on loudspeakers that coalition forces will give $2,500 to anyone providing information on the perpetrators.
The explosion could be heard along the banks of the Tigris River, which flows through the center of the city of 5 million. Dense morning fog blanketed the city at the time.
The last large explosions in the center of Baghdad occurred Monday when mortars exploded near the river. Seventeen people were killed in a suicide bombing in Khaldiyah west of Baghdad the day after Saddam's arrest.
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