NewsMax.com Wires
Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2004

More than 64 people were injured in the blasts, including at least 31 Iraqis, 12 Filipinos, 10 Poles, 10 Hungarians and an American, officials said. Polish Gen. Mieczyslaw Bieniek, commander of the 9,500-strong Polish military contingent, called it a "well-coordinated terrorist attack."

The attack, which came a week after two car bombings in another apparently coordinated attack killed more than 100 people, occurred near several homes around the military camp, and the dead included men, women and children, coalition spokeswoman Hilary White said.

The two drivers also were killed, according to the U.S. military, but no information about their identities was available.

Wednesday's bombing happened after 7:15 a.m. when two trucks loaded with explosives tried to drive near the front of the coalition base known as Camp Charlie in Hillah. Guards fired at the vehicles, causing one to explode, said Lt. Col. Robert Strzelecki. Another truck struck a concrete barrier and exploded. Four homes near the base collapsed in the blast.

Poland leads a multinational force of about 9,500 soldiers in south-central Iraq. Its troops also fought in the U.S.-led war that began March 20 to oust Saddam Hussein. Hungary has 300 troops in Iraq providing logistical support and humanitarian aid.

A Polish officer was killed in Iraq last November, the first Polish soldier killed in combat since the aftermath of World War II.

Hungarian Defense Ministry spokesman Istvan Bocskai said two of the Hungarian soldiers were seriously wounded, but the injuries weren't life threatening.

Nearly 300 people have been killed in attacks across Iraq since the beginning of the year, including about 100 people killed in bombings at a police station in Iskandariyah, south of Baghdad, on Feb. 10 and an army recruiting center in the capital on Feb. 11.

Those attacks have fueled speculation that Islamic extremists, possibly linked to al-Qaida, were playing a greater role in the anti-coalition attacks, which U.S. military officials believed had been spearheaded by loyalists of Saddam Hussein.

The violence also came as members of the U.S.-appointed Governing Council continued to push aside the U.S. idea of holding regional caucuses to elect an interim government after the planned June 30 handover.

In Baghdad, Mouwafak al-Rubaie, a Shiite Arab member of the Governing Council, said Wednesday that the idea of using caucuses was "gone with the wind," and that the only solution palatable to Iraqis was general elections, as demanded by Shiite clerics.

"Anything else will make things worse, and the results will be damaging to Iraq," he said. "Only elections will give the legitimacy needed for any future political process or body."

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday that the United States was committed to giving the Iraqi people control of their country by July 1 but remained open to ideas from the United Nations, which is expected to report this week, about how an interim government is chosen.

32 Most Wanted

The U.S. unveiled a list of 32 wanted people 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. Rewards between $50,000 and $200,000 were offered for the others.

Until now, U.S. officials have not made public a list of suspected leaders of the insurgency that erupted after the regime's collapse and has killed more American soldiers than did the invasion that toppled Saddam. The violence has persisted despite the Iraqi leader's capture in December.

In other developments,