Car Bombs Kill 68 in Southern Iraq
NewsMax Wires
Wednesday, Apr. 21, 2004
BASRA, Iraq – Suicide attackers detonated simultaneous car bombs against
police buildings during rush hour Wednesday, killing 68 people, including
children, in the bloodiest attacks to hit this southern, mainly Shiite city
since the U.S.-led occupation began a year ago.
Iraqis pulled charred and torn bodies from mangled vehicles in front of the
Saudia police station, located by Basra's crowded main street market, one of
three stations and a police academy hit by a total of five car bombs, according
to Basra's governor.

Car Bombs Kill 68 in Southern Iraq
NewsMax Wires
Wednesday, Apr. 21, 2004
BASRA, Iraq – Suicide attackers detonated simultaneous car bombs against
police buildings during rush hour Wednesday, killing 68 people, including
children, in the bloodiest attacks to hit this southern, mainly Shiite city
since the U.S.-led occupation began a year ago.
Iraqis pulled charred and torn bodies from mangled vehicles in front of the
Saudia police station, located by Basra's crowded main street market, one of
three stations and a police academy hit by a total of five car bombs, according
to Basra's governor.

About 200 people were wounded, officials said.

Two vans passing the Saudia station were destroyed: one carrying
kindergartners, the other taking girls to middle school. Dead children, burned
beyond recognition, were taken to hospital morgues.

Iraqi Interior Minister Samir Shaker Mahmoud al-Sumeidi blamed "terrorists." He
said the Basra attack resembled suicide bombings earlier this year against
Shiites and Kurds that were blamed on foreign Islamic militants.

"The information we have indicate that the attacks were carried out with car
bombs," al-Sumeidi said. "The fingerprints of the parties that were behind the
massacres in Iraq as in Irbil and Karbala can be seen in today's attacks."

U.S. officials have pointed to al-Qaida linked Jordanian militant Abu Musab
al-Zarqawi in March 2 suicide bombings at Shiite shrines in Karbala and Baghdad
that killed at least 181. Ansar al-Islam, an extremist group based in the
north, is suspected in Feb. 1 bombings in Irbil that left 109 dead.

Al-Zarqawi has outlined a plot to attack Shiite religious sites to foment civil
war between Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority and Sunni minority, say U.S.
officials pointing to a letter from al-Zarqawi to al-Qaida leaders that the
military says it intercepted earlier this year.

Basra's Governor Wael Abdul-Latif said up to 16 children and nine policemen
were among the 68 dead, though other officials gave lower numbers of children.
Police Commander Mohammed Kadhim al-Ali said the cars were packed with missiles
and TNT.

The bombings brought yet another front of violence as U.S. forces are locked in
a standoff with a radical Shiite cleric in the holy city of Najaf and Sunni
insurgents in the central city of Fallujah.

Meanwhile, an agreement aimed at bringing peace to Fallujah, 35 miles west of
Baghdad, met troubles only a day after its implementation.

A heavy battle broke out Wednesday on the city's north side, where up to 40
insurgents attacked Marine positions, commanders said. Nine insurgents were
killed, and three Marines were wounded, a military spokesman said, though some
Marines in the field said 36 guerrillas were killed.

As of noon, no heavy weapons had been turned in, the most crucial tenet of the
agreement in U.S. eyes, said Marine Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne. The U.S. military
has warned it may resume its assault on Fallujah if the agreement falls
through.

For now, the Marines were responding by halting a part of the agreement of
great concern to the Fallujans, the return of families that fled during the
fighting since April 5, Byrne said.

The near simultaneous explosions in Basra struck the three police stations and
the academy in the suburb of Zubair just after 7 a.m., as many residents were
headed to markets, work or school. An hour later, another blast targeted the
same police academy.

Abdul-Latif, who is also a member of the Iraqi Governing Council, said 200 were
wounded, including 36 policemen. About 168 of the wounded were in critical
condition. Four British soldiers were injured in the police academy blasts, two
seriously, the British Ministry of Defense said in London.

Terrorists vs. Children


But casualty figures were unclear amid the chaos. Iraqi Police Col. Kadhem
al-Muhammedawi said 10 children were among the dead, while al-Sumeidi said five
were killed. Al-Sumeidi said there were 100 injured, including 28 children.

"Today, we all have lost children who are part of Iraq's future which the
terrorists want to destroy. The Iraqi government condemns this criminal act and
it confirms its resolution on defeating this cancer which is called
resistance," al-Sumeidi said.

A large crater, six feet deep and nine feet wide, was blown in the pavement
outside the Saudia station, the facade of which was heavily damaged.

British troops who tried to come to the Saudia station to help were met by
angry Iraqis, blaming British for failing to keep security in the city.

Wednesday's battle on Fallujah's north side lasted for four hours, with Cobra
helicopter gunships blasting with Gatling guns from the air. Witnesses reported
tanks moving into the Jolan neighborhood where Marines said the attack was
launched.

Afterward, the city returned to the calm it has seen over the past few days as
weekend negotiations were held between U.S. officials and Fallujah
representatives, producing Monday's agreement on the first steps toward
bringing peace.

Capt. Matt Watt, of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines regiment, said he doubted
the battle would scuttle Monday's agreement, suggesting it was an isolated
attack.

"I think it's one last surge" by insurgents, Watt said. "They see that the end
is near and they are making one last push."

But the failure to turn in any weapons so far was a more worrisome sign,
Marines suggested. U.S. officials have said the deal's success hinges on
whether the Fallujah negotiators, a group of local civic leaders, can convince
the guerrillas to comply with the call to hand over their arsenals.

Implementation began Tuesday with a spirit of optimism. Several hundred Iraqi
police and security forces moved back into the city, and a curfew was pushed
back by two hours to 9 p.m. Public announcements instructed Fallujah residents
to turn over to the security forces all heavy weapons.

Also Tuesday, the Governing Council named a senior member of Ahmad Chalabi's
Iraqi National Congress to head an all-Iraqi tribunal due to try ousted leader
Saddam Hussein and other former members of his Baath leadership.

The choice could prove controversial. Chalabi, a longtime exile who returned to
Iraq and was named to the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, is mistrusted
as an outsider by many Iraqis who want to see Saddam prosecuted by Iraqis who
were present under his brutal rule.

In the tribunal appointments, Salem Chalabi, a U.S.-educated lawyer and nephew
of Ahmad Chalabi, was named as director-general of the court, said INC
spokesman Entefadh Qanbar. Salem Chalabi named seven judges and four
prosecutors, and further judges will be appointed, Qanbar said.

No date has been set for the trial of Saddam, who was captured by U.S. troops
in December and has since been undergoing CIA and FBI interrogation at an
undisclosed location in or near Baghdad.

In other violence on Wednesday:


Two missiles hit a residence and a car in Baghdad, killing one person and
wounding four, witnesses said.

Iraqi security forces killed four militants in Kirkuk and seized three vehicles
wired with explosives.
On Tuesday, a U.S. soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in the northern city
of Mosul: It was the 100th American combat death in April, the deadliest month
since the U.S.-led invasion began in March 2003.

At least 1,100 Iraqis have been killed in fighting since the start of the
month, according to an Associated Press count based on reports from hospitals
and Iraqi and U.S. officials.

Car Bombs Kill 68 in Southern Iraq
NewsMax Wires
Wednesday, Apr. 21, 2004
BASRA, Iraq – Suicide attackers detonated simultaneous car bombs against
police buildings during rush hour Wednesday, killing 68 people, including
children, in the bloodiest attacks to hit this southern, mainly Shiite city
since the U.S.-led occupation began a year ago.
Iraqis pulled charred and torn bodies from mangled vehicles in front of the
Saudia police station, located by Basra's crowded main street market, one of
three stations and a police academy hit by a total of five car bombs, according
to Basra's governor.

About 200 people were wounded, officials said.

Two vans passing the Saudia station were destroyed: one carrying
kindergartners, the other taking girls to middle school. Dead children, burned
beyond recognition, were taken to hospital morgues.

Iraqi Interior Minister Samir Shaker Mahmoud al-Sumeidi blamed "terrorists." He
said the Basra attack resembled suicide bombings earlier this year against
Shiites and Kurds that were blamed on foreign Islamic militants.

"The information we have indicate that the attacks were carried out with car
bombs," al-Sumeidi said. "The fingerprints of the parties that were behind the
massacres in Iraq as in Irbil and Karbala can be seen in today's attacks."

U.S. officials have pointed to al-Qaida linked Jordanian militant Abu Musab
al-Zarqawi in March 2 suicide bombings at Shiite shrines in Karbala and Baghdad
that killed at least 181. Ansar al-Islam, an extremist group based in the
north, is suspected in Feb. 1 bombings in Irbil that left 109 dead.

Al-Zarqawi has outlined a plot to attack Shiite religious sites to foment civil
war between Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority and Sunni minority, say U.S.
officials pointing to a letter from al-Zarqawi to al-Qaida leaders that the
military says it intercepted earlier this year.

Basra's Governor Wael Abdul-Latif said up to 16 children and nine policemen
were among the 68 dead, though other officials gave lower numbers of children.
Police Commander Mohammed Kadhim al-Ali said the cars were packed with missiles
and TNT.

The bombings brought yet another front of violence as U.S. forces are locked in
a standoff with a radical Shiite cleric in the holy city of Najaf and Sunni
insurgents in the central city of Fallujah.

Meanwhile, an agreement aimed at bringing peace to Fallujah, 35 miles west of
Baghdad, met troubles only a day after its implementation.

A heavy battle broke out Wednesday on the city's north side, where up to 40
insurgents attacked Marine positions, commanders said. Nine insurgents were
killed, and three Marines were wounded, a military spokesman said, though some
Marines in the field said 36 guerrillas were killed.

As of noon, no heavy weapons had been turned in, the most crucial tenet of the
agreement in U.S. eyes, said Marine Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne. The U.S. military
has warned it may resume its assault on Fallujah if the agreement falls
through.

For now, the Marines were responding by halting a part of the agreement of
great concern to the Fallujans, the return of families that fled during the
fighting since April 5, Byrne said.

The near simultaneous explosions in Basra struck the three police stations and
the academy in the suburb of Zubair just after 7 a.m., as many residents were
headed to markets, work or school. An hour later, another blast targeted the
same police academy.

Abdul-Latif, who is also a member of the Iraqi Governing Council, said 200 were
wounded, including 36 policemen. About 168 of the wounded were in critical
condition. Four British soldiers were injured in the police academy blasts, two
seriously, the British Ministry of Defense said in London.

Terrorists vs. Children


But casualty figures were unclear amid the chaos. Iraqi Police Col. Kadhem
al-Muhammedawi said 10 children were among the dead, while al-Sumeidi said five
were killed. Al-Sumeidi said there were 100 injured, including 28 children.

"Today, we all have lost children who are part of Iraq's future which the
terrorists want to destroy. The Iraqi government condemns this criminal act and
it confirms its resolution on defeating this cancer which is called
resistance," al-Sumeidi said.

A large crater, six feet deep and nine feet wide, was blown in the pavement
outside the Saudia station, the facade of which was heavily damaged.

British troops who tried to come to the Saudia station to help were met by
angry Iraqis, blaming British for failing to keep security in the city.

Wednesday's battle on Fallujah's north side lasted for four hours, with Cobra
helicopter gunships blasting with Gatling guns from the air. Witnesses reported
tanks moving into the Jolan neighborhood where Marines said the attack was
launched.

Afterward, the city returned to the calm it has seen over the past few days as
weekend negotiations were held between U.S. officials and Fallujah
representatives, producing Monday's agreement on the first steps toward
bringing peace.

Capt. Matt Watt, of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines regiment, said he doubted
the battle would scuttle Monday's agreement, suggesting it was an isolated
attack.

"I think it's one last surge" by insurgents, Watt said. "They see that the end
is near and they are making one last push."

But the failure to turn in any weapons so far was a more worrisome sign,
Marines suggested. U.S. officials have said the deal's success hinges on
whether the Fallujah negotiators, a group of local civic leaders, can convince
the guerrillas to comply with the call to hand over their arsenals.

Implementation began Tuesday with a spirit of optimism. Several hundred Iraqi
police and security forces moved back into the city, and a curfew was pushed
back by two hours to 9 p.m. Public announcements instructed Fallujah residents
to turn over to the security forces all heavy weapons.

Also Tuesday, the Governing Council named a senior member of Ahmad Chalabi's
Iraqi National Congress to head an all-Iraqi tribunal due to try ousted leader
Saddam Hussein and other former members of his Baath leadership.

The choice could prove controversial. Chalabi, a longtime exile who returned to
Iraq and was named to the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, is mistrusted
as an outsider by many Iraqis who want to see Saddam prosecuted by Iraqis who
were present under his brutal rule.

In the tribunal appointments, Salem Chalabi, a U.S.-educated lawyer and nephew
of Ahmad Chalabi, was named as director-general of the court, said INC
spokesman Entefadh Qanbar. Salem Chalabi named seven judges and four
prosecutors, and further judges will be appointed, Qanbar said.

No date has been set for the trial of Saddam, who was captured by U.S. troops
in December and has since been undergoing CIA and FBI interrogation at an
undisclosed location in or near Baghdad.

In other violence on Wednesday:


Two missiles hit a residence and a car in Baghdad, killing one person and
wounding four, witnesses said.

Iraqi security forces killed four militants in Kirkuk and seized three vehicles
wired with explosives.
On Tuesday, a U.S. soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in the northern city
of Mosul: It was the 100th American combat death in April, the deadliest month
since the U.S.-led invasion began in March 2003.

At least 1,100 Iraqis have been killed in fighting since the start of the
month, according to an Associated Press count based on reports from hospitals
and Iraqi and U.S. officials.