World

Suicide Bombers Kill 10 Iraqis

February 19, 2004 / 7:33 AM EST / CBS/AP

Suicide bombers detonated explosives outside a Polish-run base Wednesday, killing 10 Iraqis and wounding more than 100 people, more than half of them coalition soldiers. The United States arrested seven guerrillas believed linked to al Qaeda in an early morning raid to the north.

The attack in Hillah, the third suicide bombing of security targets in two weeks, was part of a wider effort "to isolate us from the Iraqi people," coalition military commander Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez told reporters in Tikrit.

Coalition and military officials said at least 106 people were hurt in the blasts, which happened in the Hayy Babil neighborhood near Camp Charlie. The wounded included 32 Iraqis and 26 Poles, as well as Hungarians, Bulgarians, Filipinos and an American.

The casualty toll could have been much higher had guards not opened fire and prevented the bombers from entering the camp. One truck exploded under the gunfire and another blew up after hitting a concrete barrier.

The stepped-up violence could be aimed at preventing U.S. administrators from handing over power to the Iraqis on June 30, when Iraqi security forces would also take a more prominent role against the insurgency.

In other developments:

Contrary to President Bush's claim that Iraq possessed at least the "capacity" to make weapons of mass destruction, weapons experts and former national security officials tell The Boston Globe that Saddam was unlikely to make any weapons capable of mass killing.

According to The Washington Post, private contractors in Iraq are spending more on security, amid growing violence that has killed at least 17 workers.

The International Red Cross is waiting to fix a date with U.S. authorities so that it can visit former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein where he is being detained, officials said. The ICRC has had a request pending with U.S. authorities to visit Saddam as a prisoner of war under the Geneva Conventions since soon after his Dec. 13 capture.

The U.S. unveiled a list of 32 wanted people that included suspected cell leaders, former members of Saddam's military and regional Baath leaders thought to be helping the insurgency. Atop the list, with a $1 million reward, is Mohammed Yunis al-Ahmad, a former top Baath Party official.

In Tikrit, Army investigators will examine why a mortar round from an army base smashed into a neighborhood home, killing three Iraqis, including a 10-year-old child. Lt. Col. Steven Russell said it was possible that the mortar crew was given the wrong coordinates.

In Samawah, a desert city about 230 miles southeast of Baghdad, a group of landowners negotiating with Japanese troops trying to set up a base camp said rent talks collapsed. Landowners originally sought $2,500 per acre a year, to which the Japanese offered $300.

Earlier Wednesday, U.S. troops arrested seven militants believed linked to al Qaeda in the turbulent city of Baqouba, north of the capital, the military said. It gave no details on the nationalities of the militants. There was no indication the attacks and the U.S. raid were directly linked.

Troops from the 4th Infantry Division carried out the raid early Wednesday targeting an "anti-coalition cell" that may have ties to Osama bin Laden's terror group, a statement from the U.S. command said.

Suicide attacks have killed 300 people, mostly Iraqis, since the beginning of the year. They have fueled speculation that Islamic extremists, possibly linked to al Qaeda, were playing a greater role in the anti-coalition insurgency. U.S. military officials had believed the attacks were spearheaded by Saddam Hussein loyalists.

Two suicide bombings killed more than 100 Iraqis last week. Polish Gen. Mieczyslaw Bieniek, commander of the 9,500-member Polish military contingent, said Wednesday's bombings, about 55 miles south of the capital, were a "well-coordinated terrorist attack."

Mohyee Mokheef, a 50-year-old cafe owner who lives in the neighborhood, said he was having breakfast when he heard a faint first explosion and a second, louder one that shattered the windows in his home. He blamed al Qaeda and an Iraq-based group linked to it, Ansar al-Islam.

"I saw dead and injured Iraqis lying on the ground," he told The Associated Press. "I suspect that Ansar al-Islam and al Qaeda were behind these operations because they want to create strife between Sunnis and Shiites and between the Shiites and Americans. They want to derail the elections process."

Most of the wounded among multinational troops were hurt by flying debris and glass. The injuries were not life-threatening.

The attack happened as members of Iraq's Governing Council distanced themselves further from the U.S. idea of holding regional caucuses to elect an interim government after the planned June 30 hand over.

Mouwafak al-Rubaie, a Shiite Arab member of the Governing Council, said the idea of using caucuses to choose a provisional legislature was "gone with the wind." He said the only solution palatable to Iraqis is general elections.