31 dead, 108 injured in Iraq attacks

05/31/2005

Jonathan Finer and Saad Sarhan,
Washington Post
May 31, 2005


BAGHDAD—The first attacker slipped unnoticed into the gathering of police commandos, detonating explosives that tore through the crowd. As survivors dashed for the shelter of a nearby building, two other bombers ran with them before setting off simultaneous blasts Monday morning, witnesses said.

The precisely coordinated assault in Hillah—targeting police officers who were protesting a provincial governor’s decision to disband their units—killed 31 people and wounded 108, according to Muhammad Hadi, a physician at the hospital where most victims were taken.

It was the latest in a month of relentless violence by insurgents, who have killed more than 700 people across Iraq since late April. The attack came as a large counterinsurgency operation in Baghdad entered its second day and U.S.-led forces in the capital detained the leader of a prominent Sunni Muslim political party before releasing him and calling his arrest a mistake.

Also, the voice of a man claiming to be Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the United States’ most-wanted man in Iraq, acknowledged reports that he had been injured but said in a rambling, 17-minute audio message addressed to Osama bin Laden that his wounds were slight and that he was still in Iraq.

The authenticity of the audiotape, which was posted on an Islamic website Monday night but listed Saturday’s date, could not immediately be verified. But Rita Katz, director of the SITE Institute, an American nonprofit group that monitors Islamist websites and news operations, said the voice sounded like Al-Zarqawi’s.

Also Monday, four U.S. Air Force personnel and one Iraqi were killed in an Iraqi Air Force crash, the U.S. military said.

The crash happened about noon in Diyala Province, northeast of the capital, Baghdad, said military spokesman Lt. Col. Fred Wellman. The cause of the crash is under investigation, the military said.

The explosions in Hillah, about 60 miles south of Baghdad, left the streets of the predominantly Shiite Muslim city soaked in blood. Al-Qaida in Iraq, the militant group led by Al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian, asserted responsibility in an Internet posting. Its statement praised “two lions” who it said carried out the attacks, but police at the scene said three bombers were involved.

Maj. Gen. Qais Hamza, a provincial police chief, vowed U.S. and Iraqi forces would launch a major operation in response. “We will take revenge,” he said.

In Baghdad, U.S. forces stormed the home of the leader of the Iraqi Islamic Party, Mohsen Abdul Hamid, before dawn and took him into custody with three of his sons, some guests and guards.

The party, which boycotted legislative elections in January, has been negotiating with Iraq’s government about increasing Sunni participation in the political process. It held a midday news conference to denounce Hamid’s detention.

U.S. troops “broke down doors and mishandled occupants,” said Tariq Hashimi, the party’s secretary general. “Dr. Abdul Hamid was mistreated in a very bad way, which indicates the savagery of the occupation forces.”

Hamid was released after several top Iraqi political leaders—including President Jalal Talabani, Prime Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaafari and Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Chalabi—complained publicly or to U.S. officials.

A statement by the U.S. military said the arrests had been a mistake. “Coalition forces regret any inconvenience and acknowledge Mr. Hamid’s cooperation in resolving this matter,” it said.

Hamid said he was blindfolded, taken to another location by helicopter and interrogated about his party’s politics. “How could they arrest a president of a well-known party and a prominent figure in the neighborhood? How can this be a mistake?” he asked on the Al-Jazeera television network.

Hashimi said the incident would not disrupt the party’s dialogue with Al-Jaafari’s ruling coalition. The Shiite-led government is under U.S. pressure to reach out to Sunnis, who are believed to form the bulk of the insurgency.

“This action is not going to force us to change our program,” Hashimi said. “We knew from the beginning that we would be facing obstacles, and the party believes in its message and will uphold it at all times.”

Al-Jaafari’s spokesman, Laith Kubba, said the prime minister had called for an investigation into a raid three days ago at the home of another Sunni leader, whose name was not disclosed. Two raids earlier this month targeted the offices of the National Dialogue Council, another Sunni organization in talks with the government.

“We believe it is a deliberate manipulation of information by people who want the cooperation to stop,” Kubba said. “The amazing thing about it is the timing. Anytime any figure makes a significant step forward, then a raid takes place and nothing is found.”

Monday’s raid occurred on the second day of Operation Lightning, the Iraqi-led initiative to root out insurgent strongholds in the capital. The effort, which is said to involve 40,000 Iraqi security personnel, came in response to a wave of car bombings in Baghdad this month and pleas for bold action from U.S. officials.

A senior U.S. official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, said that rather than a large offensive, the initiative would be “a lot of different smaller operations.”