Iraq rebels use donkeys as missile launchers

IRAQI rebels combined hi-tech with low-tech yesterday when using donkey carts as launchers in a missile attack on the oil ministry and two Baghdad hotels.

The attacks were dismissed by a US general as "militarily insignificant" but exposed weaknesses in gathering intelligence on insurgents.

The brazen, co-ordinated strikes at some of Baghdad's most heavily-protected civilian sites defied a US crackdown. Two other donkeys one pulling a rocket launcher and another rigged to a bomb were found within hours, one 30 yards from the Italian embassy.