Blast kills at least 23 outside coalition headquarters in Iraq

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, January 19, 2004

Blast kills at least 23 outside coalition headquarters in Iraq

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A suicide bomber detonated a pickup packed with more than 1,000 pounds of explosives outside the main gate of the U.S. coalition headquarters Sunday. At least 23 people were killed, and more than 60 were injured.

The attack was the deadliest since former leader Saddam Hussein was captured Dec. 13. It came a day before a meeting between Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator of Iraq, and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to discuss a possible role for the United Nations in handing power to a provisional Iraqi government by June 30. U.S. officials and members of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council want the United Nations to help break an impasse with a leader of the majority Shiite Muslim population over a coalition plan to transfer authority to Iraqis by June 30.

Sunday's blast at what the Americans call the Assassin's Gate, the main entrance to one of Saddam's former palaces, left more than a dozen twisted and smoking cars scattered around the intersection. Most of the casualties were Iraqis who worked inside the compound. Three U.S. civilians and three soldiers were among the wounded, the U.S. military said.

U.S. military officers blame Iraqi insurgents for daily attacks on American forces. Saturday, a roadside bomb killed three U.S. soldiers and two Iraqis north of Baghdad. The deaths took the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq since last year's invasion to 500.

Source: Agencies/Xinhua

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