Bomb kills 35 in attack on army volunteers

A SUICIDE bomber rammed his four-wheel drive vehicle packed with artillery shells into a crowd of Iraqi army volunteers in Baghdad yesterday, and the massive explosion that followed killed at least 35 people and wounded 138.

Another car bomb north of the capital killed six members of the Iraqi security forces.

The Baghdad blast, the deadliest attack since a bombing outside the same recruiting centre in February, was part of a surge of violence on coalition forces and their Iraqi allies ahead of the transfer of sovereignty on June 30.

The blast scattered bodies and debris across a four-lane road outside Baghdad's Muthanna airport, which is used as a base by the Iraqi Civil Defence Corps (ICDC) and the US military. The explosion could be heard for several miles and sent a cloud of smoke over the city.

Iraq's interior minister said he believed an al-Qaida-linked militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was connected to the bombing.

No US or Iraqi troops were wounded, US Colonel Mike Murray said. Most of the victims appeared to be poor Iraqis hoping to join the security forces because job opportunities elsewhere are limited.

"This clearly again was an attack that has hurt the Iraqi people," Col Murray said.

A US military official said the bombing appeared to fit a new pattern from al-Zarqawi's network: simpler, more frequent car bombings to shake confidence in Iraqi security forces ahead of the hand-over. Asked if he saw al-Zarqawi's hand in the attack, interim Interior Minister Falah Hassan al-Naqib said "I think there is some links. We are quite sure and confident they are not Iraqis and we have very good indications that theycame from abroad."

Mr Al-Naqib said one of al-Zarqawi's aides had been arrested, though he didn't say, who, where or when.

Many of the Baghdad victims had just got off a bus and were with about 100 volunteers trying to enter the recruiting centre when the white 4X4 crashed into the crowd, said ICDC Captain Hani Hussein.

Another 175 Iraqis already accepted into the security force were inside the gate of the facility, but none of them was injured.

"We were standing waiting for our turn to register," Rafid Mudhar said from his hospital bed. "All of a sudden, we heard a big explosion and most of those standing fell on the ground, including me."

Surrounded by Western security guards and Iraqi police, interim prime minister Iyad Allawi visited the scene and described it as a "cowardly attack".