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At Least 115 Killed in Iraq Blast
BAGHDAD,
February 28, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – At least
one hundred and fifteen people were killed and some 133 were wounded
in a car bombing in the Iraqi town of Hilla Monday, February 28, in
the bloodiest single attack in the war-torn country since 2003.
A
bomber rammed his car into a crowd of people lining up for medical
certificates needed for job applications in the town of Hilla, 100 km
(62 miles) south of Baghdad, reported Reuters.
Reuters
television aired footage showing a pile of bloodied bodies outside the
building.
Smoke
rose from the wreckage of burnt-out market stalls as bystanders loaded
mangled corpses on to wooden carts, usually used to carry fruit and
vegetables.
Others
were piled into the back of pick-up trucks.
“We
finished now transporting the bodies from the site,” doctor Mahmoud
Abdul Ridah, an official in the local health authority, told Reuters.
“We've
called on people to donate blood and have opened a centre for that,”
he added.
“We've
called on doctors from Kerbala, Diwaniyah and Najaf to come and help
and they have started to arrive.”
The
bombing was the worst attack in
Iraq
since 105 people were killed in the northern city of
Arbil
last February in bombings targeting Kurdish political parties.
Two
Iraqi soldiers were killed in a gun battle south of
Samarra
, while an Iraqi soldier and translator died in a mortar attack near
Dhuluiya, north of
Baghdad
, Iraqi security officials said.
A
civilian was killed and two were wounded during a small arms attack on
a police station in Baquba, the
US
military and Iraqi witnesses said.
Meanwhile,
a
US
soldier was shot dead at a traffic checkpoint in
Baghdad
, said the
US
army Monday.
His
death late Sunday brought to 1,487 the number of US servicemen killed
in attacks or accidents in
Iraq
since the invasion of the oil-rich Arab country in March 2003.
Saddam's
Brother
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Attempts to evacuate the victims. (Reuters) |
The
attack came as the Iraqi government was expected to shed light on the
arrest of Saddam Hussein's half-brother amid speculation he was handed
over by
Syria
where he had taken shelter, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Rumors
swirled over the circumstances of the arrest of Sabawi Ibrahim
Al-Hassan Al-Tikrit, accused by the
US
occupation and
Iraq
's interim government of masterminding many resistance attacks from
neighboring
Syria
.
Iraqi
officials gave differing accounts of Sabawi's capture, with some
claiming he was arrested in
Iraq
, while others said
Syria
detained him and transferred him to Iraqi custody.
British
daily the Independent, however, reported that Sabawi – 36 on the
list of 55 most-wanted figures from the former government and who has
$1m bounty on his head – was captured by Syrian forces and handed
over to Iraqi security officers as a “goodwill gesture”.
Resistance
has intensified regardless of the capture or killing of members of the
old regime, according to the daily.
The
Iraqi government had announced Sabawi's capture Sunday, but refused to
disclose the circumstances.
Sabawi
worked as Saddam's advisor and intelligence chief from 1991 to 1996.
Iraq
's national security advisor Muwaffaq Al-Rubaie told AFP that Sabawi
was among some 30 “insurgents” arrested.
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Syria was mum about its alleged role in the arrest of Saddam's half-brother. |
He
refused to confirm or deny whether Sabawi had been detained by the
Syrians.
Earlier,
Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh told the New York Times the Syrians
had handed Sabawi over.
But
Rubaie hinted the detention could mark new cooperation between
Baghdad
and
Damascus
, which has been accused of sheltering leaders from Saddam's Baath
party.
“Without
going into detail, we in the Iraqi interim government hope that this
is going to be the beginning of a good start by the Syrian government
in collaborating and cooperating with the Iraqi government,” he
said.
Rubaie
added that
Baghdad
had submitted a list of what he termed “insurgents” suspected of
hiding in
Syria
to Damascus.
“This
will be a major blow to those who are working against
Iraq
in
Syria
and they will be looking over their shoulders because the Iraqi
justice will follow them inside and outside
Iraq
.”
Syria
has repeatedly refuted claims of harboring leaders of the ousted Iraqi
regime or allowing fighters to cross its borders into Iraq.
So
far, Damascus has not commented on rumors of its role in the detention
of Sabawi.
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