Al-Qaida blamed as Iraq blasts kill 68

YESTERDAY'S devastating series of explosions which left 68 people dead and 238 injured in the southern Iraqi city of Basra were swiftly linked with al-Qaida.

At least 16 children in a school bus were among the dead and four British soldiers were injured in the blasts.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw condemned the attacks as "vicious" and said they deliberately targeted Iraqis who were working hard to build a new Iraq.