Suicide car bomber strikes Baghdad crime lab killing 21

A SUICIDE car bomber struck a police crime lab in central Baghdad yesterday, killing at least 21 people and injuring dozens a day after suicide attacks hit several hotels favoured by Western journalists, officials said.

The timing of the blast, a day after Iraq hanged Saddam Hussein’s cousin and stalwart “Chemical Ali”, prompted speculation the latest attacks were retaliation by Sunni insurgents. But the top American commander in Iraq, General Raymond Odierno, said he saw “absolutely no connection” between the bombings on Monday that killed at least 41 people and the execution.

“We didn’t turn Chemical Ali over until yesterday afternoon... There was no way anybody could have known about that,” Odierno said yesterday.