Iraqi suicide bomb kills at least 20

A suicide driver set off a truck bomb at the gates of the US-led coalition headquarters in Baghdad today, killing at least 20 people and wounding 63 others in the deadliest attack since Saddam Hussein’s capture last month.

The bombing, which occurred during rush hour on a chill foggy morning, came on the eve of a meeting between US administrator Paul Bremer and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to discuss Iraq’s future, including whether Iraq is safe enough for the world body to return.

Witnesses said that the driver of what the US military described as a white Toyota pick-up truck tried to bypass a line of Iraqi workers and a crowd of US military vehicles, coming as close as possible to the entrance American troops call “Assassins’ Gate.”

The US command said “about 20” people were killed and 63 wounded. Officials said they were unable to give a more precise death toll because of the condition of some of the bodies.

The force of the blast, from a bomb containing 1,000lbs of explosive, rattled windows more than a mile away. The attack was the latest inside the US-controlled “Green Zone” along the west bank of the Tigris River, which insurgents have targeted in the past with mortar and rocket fire, but the first against the district involving a vehicle bomb.

Most victims were Iraqis, including some waiting in traffic in their cars or lined up for stringent security checks before going to work or attending other business inside the high-walled coalition compound, housed in what was once Saddam’s Republican Palace.

The wounded included three US civilians and three American soldiers, the US military said. None of the American soldiers was seriously injured.

Colonel Ralph Baker, commander of the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Armoured Division, said the white Toyota carried the explosives and discounted witness accounts that more than one vehicle was involved.

US soldiers ran for cover as they saw the vehicle approach the entrance, witnesses said. The bomb-laden truck exploded before it got to the checkpoint.

Also today, the military reported that an explosive device being transported in a car exploded on Saturday near a US Army patrol in the central city of Tikrit, Saddam’s hometown, killing two Iraqis in the vehicle including a relative of Saddam.

There were no US casualties, and the military did not draw a connection between it and the truck bomb in Baghdad.

Baker said he was unable to say what type of explosive was employed but that “typically we see PE4 as the principal explosive that they use.”

PE4 is a military-grade plastic explosive difficult to obtain from civilian sources.

Baker said the fact that the bomber was unable to penetrate the security cordon “speaks highly of the level of security that we maintain” but that “anomalies like car bombs” are likely to continue.

US and Iraqi authorities were quick to point out that the victims of the Baghdad bombing were mostly Iraqi civilians rather than American occupation troops.

“Once again, it is innocent Iraqis who have been murdered by these terrorists in a senseless act of violence,” Bremer said in a statement. “Our determination to work for a stable and democratic future for this country is undiminished.”

The US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council blamed the ”heinous crime” on terrorists allied with Saddam. “This is yet another stigma on the foreheads of the mass grave regime and its terrorist allies inside and outside (the country), who have no value for sacred things or human lives,” the council said in a statement.

The attack occurred one day before Bremer, Annan and US-appointed Iraqi officials are to meet at the United Nations in New York to discuss possible solutions to a political deadlock over a US plan to hand over power to a provisional Iraqi government by June 30.

The Bush administration, which had shunned UN involvement in Iraq, has signalled it is now anxious for the world body to play a role in as Washington prepares to hand over sovereignty to a new Iraqi leadership by June 30.

Annan withdrew all international UN staff from Iraq after two bombings at its headquarters and a spate of attacks on humanitarian targets. Annan’s concern has been whether the situation was secure enough for the world body to return.

The bombing may have been a signal to the world organisation to stay out of Iraq and a warning to Iraqis against cooperating with occupation forces. The blast occurred at the main gate used by Iraqis to enter the sprawling palace compound.