Car Bombing Kills 11 at Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, August 08, 2003

Car Bombing Kills 11 at Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad

Eleven people were killed and nearly 60 others wounded in a massive car bombing attack near the Jordanian Embassy in the western part of Baghdad on Thursday.

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Eleven people were killed and nearly 60 others wounded in a massive car bombing attack near the Jordanian Embassy in the western part of Baghdad on Thursday.

Five Iraqi policemen were reportedly among the dead and seven of the injured were from inside the embassy compound. The blast, which occurred at 11:05 a.m. local time (0705 GMT),set ablaze five passing vehicles and several other cars parking in front of the embassy.

Passers-by believed the bomb was planted in a mini-bus before it was detonated.

The front wall of the compound was blackened with part of it blown down, and a building inside the complex was slightly damaged. Window glasses of storied houses about 100 meters away were shaken to pieces and damaged car parts could be found everywhere even on top a nearby shattered building.

A group of residents came to rescue the victims, but a guard ofthe embassy shot and injured two of them, apparently mistaking thepeople for looters.

Shortly after the explosion, angry Iraqis stormed the embassy, tore down the Jordanian flag, ripped off portraits of Jordanian King Abdullah II and his late father, King Hussein.The crowd chanted anti-Jordanian slogans to protest Jordan's offer of refuge to Saddam Hussein's daughters, Raghad and Rana, a week ago, said one of the demonstrators, Ala Mohamad al-Iraqi.They were quickly dispersed by American forces and Iraqi police who rushed to the scene to maintain order. The area was cordoned off later.

A US army officer said that he could not determine the cause or the potential target of the attack, but said it might be a remote-controlled bomb.

Some of the witnesses believe it is possible that the bomb was planted by those who hate Jordan, the kingdom they said betrayed Iraq during the US-led war.

Jordan did not take part in the war to oust Saddam, but it hosted hundreds of US troops in the name of protecting its land and airspace during the wartime.

Later in the day, Jordanian Information Minister Nabil al-Sharif condemned the explosion as a cowardly terrorist attack.In a statement carried by the official Petra news agency, al-Sharif said the attack will, however, reinforce Jordan's determination to help the Iraqi people achieve security and stability.

No group has claimed responsibility for the most deadly and the first attack against a foreign embassy in Iraq since the US troops took control of Baghdad in early April.

Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, commander of US forces in Iraq, said it was a "terrorist" attack and confirmed that at least eight people were killed.

"This is what the international community should jointly deal with," he told a press conference after the incident. He added that Jordan is a friendly country, which has set up field hospitals inside Iraq to help the sick.

Observers noted that Thursday's bomb attack was a threat to the pro-American interests and the US presence in Iraq.Some people said security could hardly be restored unless the US troops leave the country and hand over the police task to Iraqis.

Security has deteriorated in Iraq as a result of a power vacuum left by the fall of the Saddam regime. Anti-American explosions were rampant in post-war Iraq and the US military blamed the attacks on the remnants of the former regime and foreign terrorists.

At least 55 US soldiers have been killed in hostile fires since US President George W. Bush declared the end of major combat on May 1.

Two US soldiers were killed as they exchanged fires with Iraqi fighters in al-Rashid district of the capital late Wednesday. Another US soldier and an Iraqi interpreter were wounded in the clash, said the US military.

On Thursday, a US military armoured vehicle was attacked and set ablaze when Iraqi fighters fired a rocket-propelled grenade at it from a building in central Baghdad.

The second clash in Baghdad in recent 24 hours occurred near the Palm Hotel and the casualties were not immediately known. Innocent civilians and pro-American citizens were also compromised in such attacks. An unnamed doctor said dozens of Iraqis are killed or injured everyday in Baghdad alone, either by firearms or other lethal means.

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