Iraq bombers target embassies, killing at least 41

Iraq bombers target embassies, killing at least 41
Officials blame Al Qaeda in Iraq for the attacks on the Iranian, German and Egyptian offices. Some say Sunni militants are exploiting a power vacuum as rival blocs jostle to lead the next government.

Reporting from Baghdad - At least 41 people were killed and 237 wounded Sunday in three suicide car bombings targeting the Iranian and German embassies and the Egyptian Consulate in a span of 30 minutes.

The attacks, which Iraqi government officials blamed on the Sunni Arab extremist group Al Qaeda in Iraq, came less than two days after unknown gunmen in uniforms massacred 25 people in a Sunni district south of Baghdad.

The ongoing carnage raises fears that the security situation could unravel before Iraq's next government is formed, as armed groups and political parties look to exploit the uncertain period after last month's national elections. The conditions are reminiscent of early 2006 when Al Qaeda in Iraq took advantage of the transition between elected governments to blow up a Shiite holy shrine and ignite a civil war between the country's Shiite majority and its Sunni minority population, which dominated the government of Saddam Hussein before he was toppled in the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

It also comes as American forces prepare to draw down to 50,000 noncombat troops by the end of August and are less able to curb tensions between the sides, because of their diminishing numbers.

Many of those killed Sunday were motorists and pedestrians near the consular buildings in Baghdad's central governmental hub and an embassy row in west Baghdad.

No diplomats were reported wounded or killed

None of the compounds were breached, but the force of the blast by the Egyptian Consulate tore down a wall. The deadliest attack was at the Iranian Embassy in central Baghdad, surrounded by key government institutions, where 23 were killed. Eighteen died in the twin bombings at the German and Egyptian buildings, located about five minutes apart on Emirat Street in Baghdad's Mansour district.

The road opposite the Iranian Embassy, a stately sand-colored building, was strewn with half a dozen incinerated vehicles, like a child's messy train set. Caved-in jeeps and sedans, smeared with blood and tiny bits of flesh, were parked by cement barriers, still plastered with faded posters of politicians from provincial elections a year ago when Iraq's mood was more optimistic. The packed district, located next to Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, has been hit by suicide bombers at least four times since August.

A man climbed onto the husk of a minibus' upturned blackened chassis and peered inside the remains for a piece of clothing, papers, a trace of blood.

"I am sure of it. I know this is his car," the flushed man screamed, as he looked for survivors. Tired policemen and bystanders pleaded with him to come down, saying that maybe it wasn't his brother's. Moments later, after coming down from the wreck, he spotted a blackened clump of muscle near the front windshield.

"A hand," he screamed. "A hand."

A policeman and two bystanders pulled him away. "No one was killed in the minibus. It was empty," the policeman insisted. The man looked the officer in the eyes, but continued to cry: "You are lying to me."


The attack on the Egyptian Consulate left three Egyptian officials lightly wounded. An Iraqi policeman charged with security for the embassies of Germany, Syria, Morocco and Tunisia was killed, along with two other policemen, according to Foreign Ministry officials

At the German Embassy, a guard was killed, and nearby three doctors at a clinic were wounded.

Abu Nima, a guard at the clinic, was a friend of the embassy guard.

"I saw his young son crying and screaming. He wished that he was dead like his father, " Abu Nima said, blaming the nation's political feuding for the violence.

"It's part of the struggle to form the next government. They are attempting to impose pressure and instability as they race and fight for posts," the night watchmen said. "But unfortunately they oppress the poor people like us. We are the victims."

Political infighting weighs heavy on the minds of most in Baghdad after the March 7 election, in which former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's secular Iraqiya alliance won slightly more parliament seats than the Shiite-led slate of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki did.

Neither bloc has the necessary 163-seat majority in the 325-member parliament and Maliki has refused to accept the election results, charging fraud. Since the vote, raids have been carried out against several winning candidates from Iraqiya's list. The situation has fed simmering religious tensions as Maliki's backers have depicted him as the choice for the Shiite majority, while the onetime Sunni elite have pinned their hopes on Allawi.

Politicians and Western diplomats predict a drawn-out fight to lead the next government that could drag on into July, with the drift exploited by groups inside and outside the political process.
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