Posted on 02/26/2007 4:51:13 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Iraqi vice president dodges bomb; 10 die
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer
4 minutes ago
Iraq's vice president escaped an apparent assassination attempt Monday after a bomb exploded in municipal offices where he was making a speech, knocking him down with the force of the blast that left at least 10 people dead.
Adel Abdul-Mahdi was bruised and hospitalized for medical exams, an aide said. Police initially blamed the attack on a bomb-rigged car, but later said the explosives were apparently planted inside the building.
The attack sent another message that suspected Sunni militants could strike anywhere despite a major security crackdown across the capital.
Iraqis also looked to neighboring Jordan for news of their president, Jalal Talabani, who was being treated after falling unconscious Sunday. His son, Qubad Talabani, said the 73-year-old leader was "up and about" and blamed the episode on fatigue and exhaustion.
The Iraqi ambassador to Jordan said Talabani was stable at an Amman hospital. "There's nothing dangerous about his case," Saad al-Hayyani told The Associated Press.
The bomb struck while Abdul-Mahdi, a Shiite, was addressing municipal officials in the upscale Mansour district, which has many embassies and saw a rise in private security patrols after past kidnappings blamed on militants.
Abdul-Mahdi is one of two vice presidents. The other, Tariq al-Hashemi, is Sunni.
A public works employee, Tagrid Ali, said he was listening to the speech. "Then I heard a big explosion," he said. "I fell to the ground and whole place was filled with black smoke."
Iraqi and U.S. soldiers cordoned off the area and bomb-detection teams combed the building. An Associated Press photographer saw a man being led from the building by security forces, but there was no official word on arrests.
"The aggression against you this day is further proof that these groups are doing their best to destroy Iraq's unity," said a message to the vice president from Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, who heads Iraq's largest Shiite political group.
At least 10 people were killed and 18 injured in the blast, police said. An earlier explosion elsewhere in Baghdad killed at least three policemen.
On Sunday, the leader of a powerful Shiite militia, the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, complained that the U.S.-Iraqi security sweeps around Baghdad have done nothing to stem the bombings that mostly target Shiite civilians.
The statement — read in Baghdad by an aide to al-Sadr — nearly coincided with a suicide bombing that killed at least 42 people at a mostly Shiite business college. Al-Sadr's sharply worded comments could signal serious strains ahead for the security effort.
Al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia pulled its fighters off the streets under government pressure to let the 13-day-old security plan proceed, but a relentless wave of Sunni attacks has apparently tested al-Sadr's patience.
A return to the streets by the Mahdi Army forces could effectively end the security effort and raise the chances of Baghdad falling into sectarian street battles — the apparent aim of Sunni extremists seeking any way to destroy the U.S.-backed government.
Al-Hashemi, the Sunni vice president, told the AP that the security plan does not treat all groups equally — an apparent reference to Sunni complaints that they are facing the most pressure and attention.
"Up to now, legal procedures have not been observed," he said. "The human rights of Iraqis have not been respected as they should be."
In Diyala, the province northeast of Baghdad, U.S. and Iraqi forces seized a weapons cache that includes parts for sophisticated roadside bombs that are believed to originate in Iran.
Military officials told the AP that the arsenal discovered Saturday is one of the biggest found north of the Iraqi capital and contains components for so-called EFPs — explosively formed projectiles that fire a slug of molten metal capable of penetrating armored vehicles.
The U.S. military has said elite Iranian corps are funneling EFPs to Shiite militias in Iraq for use against American troops. The area where the cache was found is dominated by Sunni insurgents, but also includes pockets of Shiites.
Along with the EFPs, the weapons cache contained more than two dozen mortars and 15 rockets. There were enough metal disks to make 130 EFPs, the military said.
Last week, U.S. troops found a suspected Shiite weapons hideout in the southern city of Hilla that also included parts to make the lethal roadside bombs. The New York Times reported that the stash included a bomb-rigged fake boulder made of polyurethane that was apparently ready to be placed for an attack.
A statement from the U.S. military Monday said that 63 weapons caches have been discovered during major U.S.-Iraqi security sweeps around Baghdad that began Feb. 14. The arsenals included anti-aircraft weapons, armor-piercing bullets, bomb components and mortar rounds, the statement said.
In Baghdad, Iraq's Appeals Council agreed to review the case of Saddam Hussein's deputy, Taha Yassin Ramadan, who was sentenced to death by hanging Feb. 12 for his role in the massacre of Shiite civilians in 1982 following an assassination attempt against the former Iraqi leader.
___
Associated Press reporters Sameer Yacoub in Baghdad and Jamal Halaby in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report.
How about Osama bin Laden, al Zawahiri and the one-eyed sheik... didn't the AP at least run this by them?
Photo of Mahdi at the link.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6396783.stm
Blast injures top Iraqi officials
Security forces surrounded the building and made some arrests
A bomb placed inside an Iraqi ministry has exploded during a ceremony attended by Vice-President Adel Abdul Mahdi, injuring him and killing five others.
Police said more than 25 people were injured in the blast at the Public Works Ministry in central Baghdad.
Police are investigating how explosives were smuggled into the building. Iraqi officials are often militant targets.
Mr Abdul Mahdi, who was treated in hospital for minor wounds, had just arrived when the blast occurred.
The Minister of Public Works, Riad Ghraib, was also lightly hurt. Both officials belong to Iraq's largest Shia political coalition, the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA).
'Bomb in ceiling'
The ministry is located outside the heavily-fortified international compound known as the Green Zone, where Mr Abdul Mahdi has his office.
The vice president and minister were both briefly treated at the US military hospital there after the blast, but doctors said they had only received "scratches," according to a UIA lawmaker.
"The explosion happened when the party arrived at the meeting room. It appears that according to the first reports we have that the bomb was in the ceiling of the room," the MP is quoted saying.
Security forces surrounded the building after the blast and were seen making at least one arrest.
Iraq's president, Jalal Talabani, whom Mr Abdul Mahdi would succeed if he were incapacitated, is currently being treated in hospital in Jordan, after falling ill on Sunday.
Mr Abdul Mahdi shares his post with a Sunni Muslim, Tariq Hashemi. He is thought to be a contender to succeed Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, as the most powerful government official.
US and Iraqi forces are deployed throughout the capital to quell sectarian violence in an operation correspondents say is a final effort to stop Iraq plunging into all-out civil war.
On Sunday, a female suicide bomber wearing a vest packed with explosives killed 42 people at a Baghdad college.
Violence has continued in and around the capital on Monday. Five policemen were killed in separate attacks.
A mortar shell slammed into a street in central Baghdad, killing a woman and a man. South of Baghdad a man and his daughter were killed by gunmen.
No, they are busy giving interviews to Seymour Hersh and Bob Woodward. Their book proceeds are donated to Jihadi charities.:-)
Downright evil. And probably Made in Iran.
Blast injures top Iraqi officials
Al - Queda is busy and lethal...Bill Roggio thinks they are doing more of the bomb blasting than is realized....
>>Iraqis also looked to neighboring Jordan for news of their president, Jalal Talabani, who was being treated after falling unconscious Sunday. His son, Qubad Talabani, said the 73-year-old leader was "up and about" and blamed the episode on fatigue and exhaustion.<<
CNN is reporting that multiple sources say that Talibani has been flown to Jordan where he is in intensive care in the cardiac unit. They also say his personal doctor denies this.
Clarification: His personal doctor and his spokesman and son are only denying the part that that he has been moved to intensive care and denying a catheter has been inserted into his heart. They agree he has been flown to the King Hussein hospital in Jordan.
On the one hand, kudos to vice president Abdul-Mahdi for being out and about among the people.
On the other hand, what the hell was his security team thinking and/or doing?
Maybe they should have done the search BEFORE the speech?
>> Iraqi and U.S. soldiers cordoned off the area and bomb-
>> detection teams combed the building.
>
> Maybe they should have done the search BEFORE the speech?
Gee, you think?
Mahdi is a good guy. Jaffari defeated him by one vote, with the help of Al-Sadr. I'm glad he survived this attack, and this is likely to bolster his stature.
Who does his close protection? Iraqis (I should hope not), US Military, or Private Security firm?
> Who does his close protection? Iraqis...
Almost certainly.
> (I should hope not), ...
I can't imagine it would do any good for the image of an independent Iraq to have their high government officials being escorted by soldiers of the occupying power.
Just damn.
"I can't imagine it would do any good for the image of an independent Iraq to have their high government officials being escorted by soldiers of the occupying power."
Maybe not, but at the same time it cannot be good for the health of the Vice-President if one of his bodyguards changes his mind and tries to kill him. Not such a problem with private security contractors or American soldiers.
The people who attempt to lead this country, for whatever reason, need to have a pat on the back. Let's say they are in it for personal gain or power, no win situation. Let's say they are truly patriots..an even bigger no win situation.
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