American thought dead in rocket blast

At least six rockets blasted holes today in a Baghdad hotel seen as a symbol of the US-led occupation.

The attack left an unspecified number of casualties in a building that is home to many Americans.

US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who appeared shaken after the early morning attack, said he had unconfirmed reports that one American had been killed. The US military command spoke of an ”unknown number of casualties”.

Mr Wolfowitz, who is believed to have been in the Al Rasheed Hotel at the time, expressed “profound sympathy” for the victims of the attack, which blew out windows in several of the middle floors.

Mr Wolfowitz said that danger persists in Iraq “as long as there are criminals out there staging hit and run attacks”.

The attack occurred one day after a US Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed near the northern city of Tikrit.

Major Jossyln Aberle, spokesman for the 4th Infantry Division, confirmed that the helicopter received ground fire from a rocket-propelled grenade “while it was still in the air”, but the pilot maintained control and crash-landed.

One crew member was injured, she said.

At the Al Rasheed, the impacts left at least eight holes, the largest about two feet by three feet across, and shattered windows in at least two dozen rooms on the west side of the hotel.

The most severe damage appeared to be on the fifth and eighth floors of the 18-storey hotel. Curtains could be seen dangling on the face of the hotel.

US troops sealed off the area, located in a heavily-guarded district near coalition headquarters, after the attack.

The rockets were fired two hours after coalition authorities ended the night-time curfew in the Iraqi capital in preparation for the Muslim holy month Ramadan, which begins tomorrow.

Officials cited improved security as the reason for ending the curfew.

An Iraqi policeman, who refused to give his name, said he witnessed the attack. He said a white Chevrolet pickup truck with a blue trailer drove down a main street and pulled into a park. Several men then disconnected the trailer and drove away.

As Iraqi security guards approached, the rockets were fired, presumably by a timer, he said. Three policemen were injured by the ignition blast.

The street crosses the Tigris River at the 14th of July Bridge, which US authorities reopened yesterday for the first time since the city fell to American troops in April. As with the end of curfew, coalition officials cited improved security for the decision to reopen the major route.

US soldiers removed at least two 3-foot rockets from the trailer, located about 500 yards south west of the hotel.

Lieutenant Brian Dowd said: “There is no guarantee we can protect against this kind of thing unless we have soldiers on every block.”

Mr Wolfowitz, one of the architects of the war that ousted Saddam Hussein, arrived in Iraq on Friday for a three-day visit.

He said the US-led coalition was achieving success in stabilising Iraq despite actions of “criminals who are trying to destabilise this country”.

Mr Wolfowitz described them as “a few who refuse to accept the reality” of the new Iraq and he promised the United States would continue in its mission.

“We are taking this fight to the enemy,” he said. “We are getting the job done.”

The luxurious Al Rasheed Hotel is located in an area tightly controlled by the US military on the western side of the Tigris River near the headquarters of the US-led coalition and the Convention Centre which houses U.S. information and other offices.

The blast sent American soldiers and officials fleeing the building in pyjamas and shorts, witnesses said.

Iraqi security guard Dafer Jawad, 28, said he saw projectiles flying toward the hotel.

“There was a whooshing sound,” he said. “One landed in the front of the hotel. I saw very heavy white smoke in front of the hotel…. Many people started rushing across from the hotel into the Convention Centre.”

The hotel also was attacked on September 27 with small rockets or rocket-propelled grenades, causing only minimal damage.

US officials had warned that “Islamic extremists” planned to carry out a suicide bombing attack against an unspecified hotel in the city’s Karrada district used by Westerners. But the warning did not specify a target, and the Al Rasheed is not in that district.