Bombs batter Baghdad as PM ends US visit

by Ammar Karim

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Bombs and shells have ripped through a bustling district of
central Baghdad, killing at least 25 civilians in a bloody riposte to a
pledge from the Iraqi prime minister to halt the violence.

Insurgents detonated at least one car bomb -- some witnesses spoke of
more -- and fired mortars into the Karrada district at the heart of the
strife-torn city, spraying shrapnel and partially demolishing a three-storey
building on Thursday.

In a simultaneous and apparently coordinated attack, mortar bombs were fired
into the busy commercial area, adding to the chaos and destruction.

A defence ministry official put the initial death toll at 27, and medics at
the Ibn el-Nafess hospital said they had treated 47 injured.

The latest attacks, in a city which sees around 60 violent incidents per
day, came after Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki wrapped up his first
visit to Washington with a promise to halt the bloodshed.

Karrada was regarded as one of the few remaining relatively safe areas of
the city. Its bustling shops still attract customers from both the Sunni and
Shiite communities.

An interior ministry official said the attack had targeted an area near a
petrol station and that at least three mortar rounds had been fired after
the explosion of a powerful car bomb.

The mortars were fired across the Tigris river from the mainly Sunni Al-Dura
district into mainly Shiite Karrada, a security source said.

Further west, in the Mansur district of the capital, three people were shot
dead by unidentified gunmen and, elsewhere, another car bomb in the northern
city of Baquba injured at least five people.

Maliki's response to the violence has been a now six-week-old security plan
known as Operation Forward Together, which has seen thousands of extra
police and soldiers -- backed up by US troops -- on the streets.

The operation has failed to halt the violence, which has in fact increased
notably, and Maliki has faced tough questions about his leadership.

On Thursday, in addition to the bomb attacks, 19 corpses of murder victims
were found around the city, most showing signs that they had been tortured.

The US-led coalition has decided to redeploy its own units into sensitive
areas of the capital from elsewhere in the country in support of the
embattled Iraqi security forces.

These mainly Shiite Iraqi forces, however, have come under criticism, and
have been accused of turning a blind eye to militia attacks and in some
cases actively supporting them.

On Thursday, Britain's ambassador to
Iraq, William Patey, said on BBC radio: "There is some evidence that some
members of the police are actively engaged with death squads and with
militias.

"Undoubtedly the Iraqi people have lost confidence in the police. That's a
question of leadership, it's a question of getting rid of the bad apples,"
Patey said.

On Thursday armed men in military uniforms and equipped with army trucks
robbed a convoy bring the equivalent of 1.4 million dollars (1.1 million
euros) to a bank in Baghdad.

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"It is even probable that the supremacy of nations
may be determined by the possession of available
petroleum and its products." - President Coolidge,
We Fight for Oil, Ludwell Denny - Alfred A Knopf, 1928

"As democracy is perfected, the office of president
represents, more and more closely, the inner soul
of the people. On some great and glorious day the
plain folks of the land will reach their heart's
desire at last and the White House will be adorned
by a downright moron." --- H.L. Mencken (1880 - 1956)

"Ignorance is an evil weed, which dictators may cultivate among their
dupes, but which no democracy can afford among its citizens."
- William H. Beveridge, 1944

"The power of accurate observation is called cynicism
by those who have not got it." - G. B. Shaw

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