A HUGE explosion destroyed the offices of a major Shi’ite party yesterday as it was revealed that US administrator Paul Bremer escaped a rebel ambush on his convoy two weeks ago.

A roadside bomb exploded near a military petrol tanker outside Baghdad today, wounding two US soldiers and, according to a witness, killing two Iraqi civilians.

An explosion just before dawn at an office belonging to Iraq’s major Shiite party killed one Iraqi woman and wounded five others in Baghdad today.