A powerful explosion destroyed a hotel in central Baghdad on Wenesday night, killing at least 27 people and injuring 40, including two Britons. The blast, three days before the anniversary of the United States-led invasion, left a crater six metres across and three metres deep outside the Mount Lebanon hotel.
Dazed and injured, some of the survivors were seen stumbling from the wreckage, though others — including a family — were believed to be still trapped under rubble. A father was seen cradling his young daughter limp in his arms.
”I heard the explosion and I ran down the street, and saw many, many people killed. There were children dead,” said Raad Abdul Karim (30).
The neighbourhood was populated by a mixture of Shias, Sunnis and Kurds, the US spokesman said. ”They are ordinary families.”
Buildings nearby were severely damaged, including the offices of al-Jazeera, the Arab satellite TV channel, and several cars caught fire.
The US military confirmed last night that the blast was caused by a car bomb.
”The bomb was 450kg of explosives packed with artillery shells,” said a US military spokesperson. ”Our indications are that this attack follows the pattern of Ansar al-Islam and Zarqawi.”
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, an al-Qaeda-linked Jordanian militant, is a prime suspect in the recent attacks in Kerbala, which killed more than 100 people.
The blast came hours after Iraq’s US-appointed governing council invited the United Nations to return to Baghdad and advise on setting up an interim government by June 30.
The UN pulled out of Iraq last August when a bomb attack on its Baghdad headquarters killed its special representative, Vieira de Mello, and 21 others.
After the attack, about 100 US troops in Bradley tanks and Humvees ushered away the crowds, while ambulances ferried the injured to hospital.
Ralph Baker, colonel of the US 1st Armoured Division, said last night that rescuers were still searching for victims in the five-storey hotel.
Guerrillas fighting the US-led occupation have targeted hotels several times; but, unlike the Sheraton and Palestine hotels nearby, where many foreign contractors, companies and media organisations are based, the Mount Lebanon is used mainly by Iraqi businessmen visiting Baghdad.
One local, however, said some Americans and Britons had been staying there, and Col Baker confirmed that foreigners were among the guests. The US military said two Britons had been slightly hurt.
The hotel is close to Firdus square, where a statue of Saddam Hussein was symbolically toppled on April 9 last year when US troops rolled into the city.
The governing council’s deputy interior minister, Ahmed Kadhim, as well as several residents near the hotel, believed initially that the blast was the result of a rocket attack.
”We saw the tail of a rocket, then we saw a big flash and heard a big boom,” said a bystander, Hashim al-Musawi.
A US soldier at the scene insisted it was not a rocket. ”It has to be a car bomb. No rocket could cause that amount of damage,” said Private Heath Balick, of the 1st Armoured Division, which is responsible for security in Baghdad.
In Washington, the Bush administration offered prayers for the victims, but said such attacks would not change US policy. ”Democracy is taking root in Iraq and there is no turning back,” said Scott McClellan, White House spokesperson. ”This is a time of testing, but the terrorists will not prevail.”
Washington wants the UN to help choose the mechanism for selecting an unelected Iraqi government that will take over sovereignty at the end of June, believing that UN involvement will help legitimise the process.
Ahmed Chalabi, a leading member of the governing council, told a news conference that it had agreed to send an invitation letter to the UN. ”The letter states that the governing council envisages an important role for the United Nations in Iraq. The role of the UN is to provide counselling assistance in the run-up to the transfer of power, and technical assistance in the elections,” Chalabi later told Reuters. ”We want the UN to provide legitimacy.” – Guardian Unlimited Â