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Friday, April 29, 2005

Iraq's most-wanted terrorist, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, purportedly threatened more violence in an audiotape on the Internet, warning President Bush the insurgents "will not rest until we avenge our dignity."

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At least 11 car bombs exploded in and around Baghdad on Friday, including four suicide attacks in quick succession in the Azamiyah section of central Baghdad.

The first one hit an Iraqi army patrol, the second a police patrol and the third and fourth at separate barricades near the headquarters of the police special forces unit, police chief Brig. Gen. Khalid al-Hassan said. Col. Hussein Mutlak said those attacks killed at least 20 Iraqis, including 15 soldiers and five civilians. At least 65 were injured, including 30 troops and 35 civilians, he said.

"We see these attacks as another desperate attempt by the terrorists to discredit the newly formed Iraqi government," the U.S.-led coalition said in a statement, adding the violence was failing "to drive a wedge between the Iraqi people and their right to choose their own destiny."

Ambulances sped to hospitals and policemen crouched in fear after the explosions in Baghdad, which set fire and caused heavy damage to the special forces headquarters.

A U.S. soldier was killed and two others from the 1st Corps Support Command were wounded Friday in a car bombing about 20 miles north of the capital, the U.S. military said.

A car bomb attack near Diyarah also killed two U.S. soldiers assigned to the 155th Brigade Combat Team, II Marine Expeditionary Force, the military said. The statement did not provide additional details.

U.S. military spokesman Greg Kaufman said earlier that seven other U.S. soldiers had suffered minor injuries in other attacks around Baghdad.

Late Thursday, another American soldier was killed and four wounded in a roadside bombing in Hawija, a city about 150 miles north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said. At least 1,575 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

Insurgents also hit Iraqi forces with a coordinated assault in the southeastern town of Madain, less than two weeks after Iraqi forces raided the region to clear it of insurgents in an operation praised by the U.S. military as evidence of the progress made by Iraq in assuring its own security.

A roadside bomb was detonated, then two suicide car bombers drove from different directions into police special forces as they arrived to investigate, said police Lt. Jassim al-Maliky. A third car bomb targeted another police patrol and a fourth detonated near the city hospital, according to Iraqi police, who said the attacks killed 13 people and injured 20.

Many of the wounded arrived covered in blood at the emergency section of Madain's al-Kindy hospital. Hospital staff ran to ambulances to assist as a crowd gathered outside.

A suicide attacker also blew up an ambulance packed with explosives near a police special forces patrol in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, killing four Iraqis, including two policemen, said police Brig. Gen. Adel Molan. Twenty Iraqis were injured, he said. Maj. Steven Warren, a U.S. military spokesman, said the bomber drove his vehicle up to a truck carrying the Iraqi troops.

Also in Baqouba, a Sunni cleric believed to be a senior member of al-Zarqawi's Al-Qaida in Iraq terrorist group blew himself up as Iraqi security forces surrounded the city's al-Aqsa mosque, Ali Fadhil of the joint operation center said.

"Imam Abdul Razaq Rashid Hamid ... came out from the mosque with two hand grenades as our forces were surrounding the mosque," Fadhil said. "He threw one of the grenads at the forces while blowing himself with the second one."

Ten others inside the mosque were detained for questioning, he said.

Warren, the U.S. military spokesman, could not confirm the identity of the man killed, but said he was shot after walking out of a mosque suspected of sheltering insurgents carrying a grenade. The conflicting accounts could not immediately be reconciled.

A roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi border guard patrol also killed one soldier and wounded two west of the southern city of Basra, said Iraqi Lt. Col. Abdul Hadi al-Najar.

The violence came after Iraq's National Assembly approved an interim Cabinet lineup on Thursday, laying the groundwork for the first elected government in Iraq's history to take office.

The new Cabinet held its first meeting Thursday night to discuss a handover between Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and his successor, Ibrahim al-Jaafari. The incoming premier's office said the handover would take place on Tuesday.

U.S. officials had been pressing for a resolution to nearly three months of political wrangling over the composition of the new Cabinet, worrying the political vacuum was encouraging insurgents, who have staged a series of dramatic and well-coordinated attacks in recent weeks.

But the Shiite-dominated Cabinet so far excludes the Sunni minority from meaningful positions, which had been seen as a way to cut into insurgents' Sunni support base and help curb the violence.

Nearly a third of the 275-member National Assembly stayed away from Thursday's vote, underscoring the myriad ethnic and religious divisions that have hampered the formation of a government since landmark parliamentary elections on Jan. 30.

Two of the four deputy prime minister's slots remained vacant and five ministries, including the important defense and oil slots, were left in the hands of temporary managers.

The primary goal of Iraq's first elected government will be to write a permanent constitution by mid-August. The document must be submitted to a referendum no later than Oct. 15. If approved, elections for a permanent government must be held by Dec. 15.

The audiotape purportedly from al-Zarqawi was posted Friday on a Web site known for carrying messages from Islamic militant groups. The speaker directly addressed Bush.

"You, Bush, we will not rest until we avenge our dignity," the voice said. "We will not rest while your army is here as long as there is a pulse in our veins."

It wasn't clear when the tape was made and its authenticity could not be verified. The speaker refers to a newspaper article he said was dated March 19, then makes a separate reference to the story as having come "this month."

The voice on the tape sounded similar to previous audiotapes attributed to the Jordanian-born militant who leads an al-Qaida affiliate in Iraq. U.S. intelligence officials were looking into the authenticity of the tape, an official in Washington said on condition of anonymity.

The audiotape urged al-Zarqawi's followers to step up their attacks on American soldiers, vowing to "make swords drip with their blood."

The speaker also warned followers against any American overtures for dialogue, an apparent reference to reported attempts by the U.S.-backed interim government to persuade insurgents to lay down their arms in exchange for amnesty and a say in politics.

"Be aware, these are the devil's tricks," he warned. "They (the Americans) have offered this dialogue after the defeats they have suffered."

The United States has offered a $25 million reward for information leading to al-Zarqawi's arrest.

© 2005 The Associated Press

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