Posted on 06/25/2007 5:07:00 AM PDT by leadpenny
Last Updated: Monday, 25 June 2007, 11:07 GMT 12:07 UK
The bomb struck the lobby of the hotel
A number of senior Sunni tribal leaders have been killed in a suicide bombing at a hotel in central Baghdad, which has left 12 dead and 15 injured.
"According to initial reports, six sheikhs are among the dead," Lieutenant Colonel Scott Bleichwehl said.
Sunni tribal leaders meeting at the Mansour Hotel were the target of the attack, police say.
Earlier, blasts in the southern city of Hilla, and in the city of Baiji, in the north, left at least 18 people dead.
'Huge explosion'
The bomb exploded in the lobby of the Mansour Hotel, which is used by Westerners and Iraqi officials.
US forces have now sealed the hotel off.
The whole building shook for a few seconds
Witness Sunni tribal leaders from the western Anbar province had been meeting at the hotel.
Reports said that Sunni tribal leader Fasal al-Khoud was among the dead.
Mr al-Khoud was one of the founders of the Anbar Salvation Council which has close contacts with the US-led coalition.
An Iraqi journalist, Rahim al-Maliki, who worked for al-Iraqiya TV, was also killed in the blast.
"It was a huge explosion, the whole building shook for a few seconds," one witness said.
A Mansour Hotel worker, Saif al-Rubaie, 28, told the Associated Press the casualties were Iraqis, mostly employees who were in the reception area.
The hotel, situated on the banks of the Tigris River, is near Baghdad's Green Zone and often used by Iraqi officials visiting the capital.
A number of foreigners also live in the hotel.
In other attacks across the country, at least eight people died when a bomb ripped into a crowd of police recruits outside the governor's office in Hilla, 100km (60 miles) south of Baghdad.
And at least 10 people were killed when an attacker rammed an oil tanker into the police HQ in Baiji.
my guess is that it was a premature detonation.
Will this give the tribes further incentive to hunt down Al Qaida?
Why are US forces sealing the area off ?
No Americans were involved in the bombing.
What happend to the Iraqi forces standing up. This is just another event tribal warfare that has nothing to do with us.
Wouldn’t the lobby be considered ‘ground zero’?
Not funny. Some of our boys are probably going to get caught in the crossfire from this.
Nothing to do with us?
Many of the Sunni tribes have been turning against AQ and supporting us . . the US.
This isn’t “just” some petty tribal warfare to ignore.
This is Al-Qaeda targetting Sunni sheikhs who are cooperating with US Forces. The Sunni sheikhs are our most important allies in the fight against Al-Qaeda.
The only good that could come out of this attack, is more resolve and unity of the tribes against Al-Qaeda.
You do know that those sheikhs killed in the attack were cooperating with us against Al-Qaeda?
That was my first thought on reading of this. Seems to me like this sort of thing would only strengthen the determination of the tribes who were attacked to go into pay back mode, big time.
If we don’t get busy and find a way to stop these bombings it’s going to be our downfall. It’s obvious the enemy is up to its old tricks of trying to inflict enough damage to force the peaceniks in our Congress to give them a victory they simply cannot win on the battlefield.
A particularly good thing because they are not encumbered by ROE.
Among the wounded is their sixth sheep.
“Despite heavy security at the hotel, the suicide bomber, wearing traditional Arab dress, was able to enter the lobby and blow himself up there. Bodies of the dead and wounded were scattered across the lobby, which was strewn with broken glass.”
Not heavy enough security, apparently. How does someone walk into a lobby through heavy security with a bomb strapped to his body? Supposedly, some of the security was provided by the US, too.
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