Twin car bomb attack kills 23 in Iraq

A CAR-BOMB attack killed 23 people south of Baghdad in the latest atrocity to blight Iraq's build-up to sovereignty this week as the caretaker prime minister said instability could delay national elections for two months.

Twin car bombs exploded in the centre of Hilla, a mainly Shiite town 100 kilometres south of Baghdad which has remained relatively peaceful in recent months, late on Saturday.

The local hospital and the health ministry in Baghdad said 23 people had been killed, revising down a toll of up to 40 dead given earlier by the US-led coalition occupying Iraq.

"There were 23 people killed and 58 injured, some seriously, meaning the number of dead could rise," said hospital director Mohammad Dia Bayram.

Polish forces which patrol the area around the former Saddam mosque, said, "As a result of that barbaric act, many innocent Iraqis lost their lives. Many children were among them."

Also yesterday, a US Air Force C-130 transport plane was hit by small arms fire after taking off from Baghdad International Airport, killing at least one person aboard.

The aircraft was struck about 12 miles west of the airport.

The top US administrator Paul Bremer, who visited the former mosque now being used as a democracy centre and religious university yesterday, said those responsible "are the enemies of Iraq, not enemies of the occupation, not (enemies of) the coalition. They are enemies of Iraq."

Two rockets also hit the protected area of central Baghdad used by the coalition yesterday but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

Violent attacks have left hundreds dead this month as Iraq's caretaker government prepares to assume power on Wednesday, and Prime Minister Iyad Allawi warned the tenuous security situation could delay national elections slated for January by two months.

"We are committed to elections, and one of the tasks is really to work towards achieving these objectives. However, security will be the main feature of whether we will be able to do it in January, February or March," Allawi told the CBS television network.

Allawi and his interior and defence ministers have raised the idea of declaring emergency law in areas of Iraq as they seek to crush the insurgency.

Allawi told CBS news emergency measures were legal in the name of bringing back peace to Iraq.

"We are considering among other things a law which we are calling the defence of public safety, which is still being considered."

Separately, Prime Minister Allawi also said Iraqis who have acted against the US-led occupation would be offered an amnesty under plans to isolate hardcore insurgents.

"We are drawing up plans to provide amnesty to Iraqis who supported the so-called resistance without committing crimes, whilst isolating the hardcore elements of terrorists and criminals and undercutting their base of support," he wrote in the Independent on Sunday newspaper.