Iraq threatens more suicide bombings

Iraq’s vice president today threatened more suicide bombings against coalition troops, saying the suicide bomber who killed four US soldiers outside the Iraqi city of Najaf was a non-commissioned army officer.

Addressing a news conference, Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan identified the bomber as Ali Jaafar al-Noamani, a father of several children. A detailed statement on the bombing would be issued later, he said.

“This is just the beginning. You’ll hear more pleasant news later,” Ramadan said.

Asked whether suicide bombings will now become a policy of the Iraqi military, Ramadan said: “It will be routine military policy. We will use any means to kill our enemy in our land and we will follow the enemy into its land.”

Ramadan said Iraq won’t accept any diplomatic bid to end the fighting unless it provides for the departure of US and British troops within 48 hours.

On suicide bombings, he said Iraq, like many other nations, cannot match the weaponry of the United States. ”They have bombs that can kill 500 people, but I am sure that the day will come when a single martyrdom operation will kill 5,000 enemies,” he said.

He said thousands of Arab volunteers have been pouring into Iraq since the start of the war and that Iraq will provide them with what they need to fight.

“The Iraqi people have a legal right to deal with the enemy with any means,” he added.

Ramadam also rejected as illegal the latest U.N. Security Council resolution on resuming humanitarian aid to Iraq, saying it provided a blanket of legitimacy for the US-led invasion.

“We categorically reject the Security Council resolution,” he said. “It was born dead and will remain dead.”

On the invading forces, Ramadan said: “My advice to them is to withdraw from Iraq as soon as possible.” If they don’t, he said, “The Iraqi people, including women, will be fedayeen (guerrillas) and the Arab people will be fedayeen against their treasonous rulers.”

The suicide bombing was the first against US and British forces since the invasion began.

The bomber struck at a US checkpoint on the highway north of the city of Najaf, US military officers said. A taxi stopped close to the checkpoint, and the driver waved for help. The soldiers approached the car, and it exploded, Capt. Andrew Wallace told Associated Press Television News.

Wallace said the victims were part of the Army’s 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division.

US Central Command in Doha, Qatar, confirmed the incident but had no additional details. Maj. Gen. Victor Renuart said that kind of attack was “a symbol of an organisation that’s starting to get a little bit desperate.”

The brigade’s commander, Col. Will Grimsley, said his troops were going to get on with the job they’d been sent to do, liberate Iraq.

“The local population that’s here and happy that we’re here – they tell us all the time, they’ve been feeling the same kind of terrorist repression for years and now unfortunately it’s hit American soldiers,” Grimsley said. ”I think it only tightens the resolve of why we’re here.”

There have been warnings of suicide attacks in Iraq. Iraqi dissidents and Arab media have claimed that Saddam Hussein has opened a training camp for Arab volunteers willing to carry out suicide bombings against US forces in Iraq.

Terror mastermind Osama bin Laden also urged Iraqis last month in an audio tape aired on Arabic television to employ the tactic against the Americans. Other Arab militants also spoke about suicide missions against the invading armies.

Such suicide attacks have been used numerous times by Palestinian militants in targeting the better equipped Israeli army during the uprising on the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri was asked in a mid-March television interview, whether Iraq would use the tactic of suicide attacks against the invading American forces.

“We have prepared ourselves for all kinds of war. For many months, tens of thousands have volunteered to serve as martyrdom-seekers (suicide attackers) in the battle with the American enemy,” he said. “We trained them and readied them. We have prepared ourselves for street fighting and desert fighting.”