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| Iraq |
| Iraq on alert after deadly embassy explosions |
| 2010-04-06 |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] Iraq's security forces were on high alert Monday after three suicide car bombs targeting regional and European embassies rocked Baghdad, killing up to 42 people. Officials said the near-simultaneous attacks, which a minister said bore the signature of al-Qaeda, had also wounded as many as 224 people. Two were suicide attacks against the Egyptian and Iranian embassies, while a third struck an intersection near the German, Spanish and Syrian missions. The attacks came as Iraq's political parties struggled to form a government. "How much longer will this last?" Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, whose coalition finished second in the March 7 general election, held a meeting with Iraq's national security council over Sunday's blasts, a statement from his office said. Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim Atta said a bomb-laden car had also been intercepted in Masbah, central Baghdad, apparently heading towards the headquarters of police tasked with diplomatic protection. Its driver was arrested and the device was defused, he said. "It looks like (al-Qaeda)," Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told AFP. "I really feel it's early, however, unless we ensure the investigation is complete" to say who was behind the blasts, he added. "They bear the same marks of previous attacks, in the timing, the targeting, the simultaneous attacks on different targets in different places to have maximum impact," Zebari said. He was referring to coordinated bombings in August, October, December and January that killed more than 400 people. The two bombs that battered the diplomatic western neighborhood of Mansur were followed soon afterwards by a third huge explosion outside the Iranian embassy in central Baghdad. "The explosion was really strong," taxi driver Abu Ahmed told AFP of the blast at the Iranian embassy, which caused no casualties among its staff. "They never kill ministers, officials or heads of state. They kill taxi drivers, public employees and shopkeepers," he added. "How much longer will this last?" "Barbaric" German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Berlin she was "profoundly affected" by the blasts, while the Arab League said that they sought to destabilize Iraq at a "delicate moment." French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner condemned the bombings as "barbaric." EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton condemned the attacks, saying in a statement that it was important that Iraq's political parties and leaders "continue to strengthen Iraq's democratic institutions." "No terrorist attack should prevent Iraqis from achieving their fundamental right of a peaceful and normal life," she said. The attacks came as Iraqi political parties negotiate to form a government, nearly a month after an election that left none of the four main blocs with enough seats to form a 163-seat parliamentary majority on its own. Former premier Iyad Allawi, whose bloc finished first in the election, has accused Iran of seeking to prevent him becoming prime minister again by inviting all major parties except his secular bloc to Tehran. Security officials had warned that protracted coalition building could give insurgents an opportunity to further destabilize the country. |
| Posted by:Fred |