Suicide car bombs kill seven policemen

TWO suicide car bombers struck within a minute of each other and a half-mile apart in southern Baghdad yesterday, killing seven policemen and raising the day’s death toll from blasts in the capital to at least 31, police said.

Earlier, the first suicide car bombing killed 16 police and five civilians, signalling a new round of violence one day after residents suffered Baghdad’s bloodiest day since the fall of Saddam Hussein - 160 dead and 570 wounded.

A roadside bomb struck a Ministry of Industry bus in eastern Baghdad, killing three civilians and wounding 13, said police Lt Col Ahmed Abbod.

The US military and Iraqi police drove through Baghdad’s Dora neighbourhood, where the bombings were concentrated, warning residents to stay indoors because five more car bombers were said to be ready to attack. Streets in the southern neighbourhood were abandoned.

Al-Qaida in Iraq said it launched the attacks on both days.

Maj Gen Rick Lynch, the chief military spokesman in Baghdad, said insurgents had become desperate as Iraqis prepared to vote on a new constitution.

“Remember, democracy equals failure for the insurgency. So there has to be heightened awareness now as we work our way toward the referendum ... That’s power, that’s movement toward democracy,” he said.

Al-Qaida’s leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, purportedly declared “all-out war” on Shi’ites, Iraqi troops and the government in an audiotape posted on Wednesday on an internet site known for carrying extremist Islamic content.

The massive bombings have taken place with both Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari in the US. Mr Talabani is scheduled to address the United Nations General Assembly and has met US President George W Bush. Both presidents agreed it was not yet time to discuss withdrawal of the 140,000 US troops in Iraq.

Meanwhile, US forces and insurgents, meanwhile, reportedly clashed in the western town of Ramadi, a militant stronghold on the main road to neighbouring Jordan. A web posting purportedly from Al-Qaida said its forces had engaged the US military in the predominantly Sunni city.