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| Iraq-Jordan | |
| Gov't Ministers At Odds Over Baghdad Blast | |
| 2005-01-20 | |
| GOVERNMENT ministers were at odds today over whether yesterday's bomb attack in Baghdad that wounded two soldiers specifically targeted Australians. They also questioned claims al-Qaeda was behind the truck bomb which detonated outside the Australian military barracks opposite Australia's embassy in the capital. While Attorney-General Philip Ruddock and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer both said it was likely the bombers targeted Australians, Defence Minister Robert Hill said he did not think they had. "You can't ever tell in these things. We've been in the building for some considerable time and it's well known the building is occupied by coalition forces," Senator Hill said today in London. "Whether those who sought to attack it identified those forces as Australian or whether that was relevant to them, I don't now. But I suspect probably not. "It was simply seen as a target associated with coalition forces in Baghdad." The bombing was one of a series of attacks in the Iraqi capital yesterday ahead of elections scheduled for January 30. Mr Ruddock said it was impossible to know for certain whether Australia was the target of the attack. "We don't know for certainty whether or not Australia and Australian interests were being targeted, but it is reasonable to make certain assumptions that we could have been," he said. Mr Ruddock would not be drawn on what specific evidence he would need to be convinced the bomb had been aimed at Australian interests. He was sceptical about a claim of responsibility for the attack by a group led by al-Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, which posted a statement on a website. "There is no certainty about claims that are made on websites, websites can sometimes be from a source that is telling you accurately what their claims are, sometimes they can be others who are making claims." The al-Zarqawi group was very active and had previously made threats against Australia's interests, he said. "With the information I have now from Baghdad, and I've spoken to the ambassador (in Iraq) at some length, it looks as though the embassy itself was targeted," Mr Downer said in Los Angeles today. Commonsense pointed to the attack being directed at Australia, Mr Downer said. "The vehicle was clearly directed towards the incomplete apartment block adjacent to the embassy where a lot of our soldiers are based," Mr Downer said. "It would have only headed in that direction if it was aiming at our embassy." Acting Prime Minister John Anderson also said the blast suggested Australia may have been the target, but denied the statement proved Australian interests were the focus of the extremists. "It may be that that is the case, it may not," he said on ABC radio. "But we see these websites making all sorts of claims, sometimes they prove to be accurate, sometimes they don't." "It was a significant explosion, of course, in the vicinity of the security detachment building, which is next to the Australian embassy, and that suggests that Australia may have been the target. "But we have no confirmation of that, we certainly have no confirmation of who might have been responsible."
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| Posted by:God Save The World |