The Hindu : International : Blast as Blair visits Iraq

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 22, 2004

International

International

Blast as Blair visits Iraq

By Atul Aneja

MANAMA, DEC. 21. At least 22 persons were killed and 50 wounded in an explosion at an American military base in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Tuesday. The blast coincided with the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair's surprise visit to Iraq.

A military spokesman in Mosul said the explosion occurred at midday but the cause was unclear. CNN reported that the blast hit a dining hall, which would have been crowded at lunchtime. "At 12 p.m. [local time] today, an explosion occurred at a U.S. military installation in Mosul causing multiple casualties," the military in Iraq said in a statement, giving no details. "The cause of the explosion is under investigation."

`Hurdles to poll'

Mr. Blair, who arrived in Baghdad, said at a press conference, "There are major problems — but holding the elections will have its own impetus towards greater security".

Witnesses heard two or three explosions and saw smoke rising from the biggest U.S. base in the region, around an airfield in the southwest of the city known as Camp Merez. The Associated Press quoted a Pentagon official as saying that 22 persons were killed and 50 injured during a combined rocket and mortar attack on the US and Iraqi forward operating base in Mosul. It was unknown whether the casualties were Iraqi personnel or Americans, the official said. The U.S. and Iraq use the base jointly.

In a day marked by violence, American planes bombed the Iraqi town of Hiyt, west of Baghdad, killing six civilians and injuring nine others. Al Jazeera television reported that the bombing, which continued till the early hours of Tuesday, destroyed houses, shops and vehicles.

It quoted hospital sources as saying that a woman and a child were among the wounded. Hiyt is located 170 km west of Baghdad and falls in the Al-Anbar province. The resistance strongholds of Falluja and Ramadi are also in this province.

Spurt in violence

There has been a spurt in violence as the date for Iraq's controversial elections next month is nearing. On Tuesday, there was yet another explosion in Karbala, the city where 13 persons were killed on Sunday in a car bomb explosion.

Today's blast occurred near the Al-Sadiya police station, but no casualties were reported. Karbala and its sister city of Najaf are Shia pilgrimage centres.

Meanwhile, neighbouring Iran, which is ruled by a Shia majority, has blamed the U.S. and Israel for Sunday's attacks, which it said, was part of a conspiracy to rig the elections.

The Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as saying, "This is a plot which aims at keeping the Iraqis so busy that they will miss the exceptional chance to participate in the January 30 elections".

As violence surged, Iraqi guerillas are suspected to have set ablaze a hub of intersecting export and domestic oil pipelines. The pipeline junctions, southwest of Kirkuk, has branches heading towards the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan as well as to domestic depots and refineries.

In a related incident, an Iraqi nuclear scientist, Talib Ibrahim al-Dahir, was assassinated while he was at his work at Diyala University.

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