Bomb kills five, hurts 40 in Iraq

A BOMB apparently hidden in a pickup truck exploded yesterday at the offices of a US-allied Kurdish political party in Kirkuk, killing five people and wounding 40, including children.

It was the second car bombing in as many days targeting Iraqis who cooperate with the US-led occupation.

Mayor Abdul Rahman Mustapha said "all indications point" to a suicide attack.

Elsewhere, a pro-American politician was assassinated in Basra and gunmen killed an Iraqi guard at the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad.

The explosion in Kirkuk occurred at about 10:30am, said Jalal Johar, an official with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. It shattered windows and damaged doors at the two-storey, yellow-and-green building and blew out the windows of the nearby radio and television station.

The blast happened at about the same time as deadly bombings in Istanbul, Turkey, where the London-based HSBC bank and the British consulate were the targets. The twin attacks blamed on al-Qaida coincided with President Bush's state visit to London.