www.nytimes.com/2007/04/13/world/middleeast/13iraq.html
Article Tools Sponsored By By ALISSA J RUBIN Published: April 13, 2007 BAGHDAD, April 12 A suicide bomber struck deep inside the heavily fortified International Zone on Thursday, killing eight people when he detonated his explosives inside the Parliament building, just a few feet from the main chamber.
Go to Complete Coverage The New York Times An explosion struck the cafeteria inside the Iraqi parliament. In a separate and in some ways equally traumatic attack early in the day, a truck bomb destroyed the beloved 60-year-old Sarafiya bridge across the Tigris and killed six people. The heavily traveled bridge has long been a symbol of Baghdad, illustrated on old postcards and drawings from a more peaceful time. The attack on Parliament was the worst in the International Zone since the area was established four years ago, when it was known as the Green Zone. At a time when Iraqis are increasingly questioning the governments ability to protect them, the bombing raised the troubling possibility that it could not even fully protect itself, although the zone is at the wellspring of American and Iraqi military power in the city. The bomber struck a half hour after the days session had closed, in a cafe area where lawmakers were lingering, across from the main chamber. Among the dead were at least two legislators, both from Sunni parties. Of the 23 people wounded, 11 were members of Parliament, the United States military reported. This is a cowardly act, said Deputy Prime Minister Barham Ahmad Saleh, and this proves that terrorism is indiscriminate. Sunnis, Shia, Kurds have been injured and maimed and killed in this attack. He visited the wounded at Ibn Sina Hospital, which is run by the United States military. Mr Saleh and Mowaffak al-Rubaie, the national security adviser, who was also visiting the wounded, called the attack a major security breach. Regulations in the zone require visitors to undergo several screenings by Iraqi forces, foreign contractors and American soldiers. The image of the International Zone as an impregnable fortress had been on the wane. Regular rocket and mortar attacks on the United States Embassy compound in recent weeks have killed a civilian and a soldier, and wounded several others. And senior military officials said two suicide vests were found in a garbage bin about two weeks ago. Accordingly, news of the attack on Thursday came less as a shock than as further evidence of the governments impotence, even in the midst of a major security push in the city. I am not surprised this happened at the Parliament, said Waqas al-Ubaidi, 30, who was standing outside the hospital waiting for news of his uncle, a member of Parliament, Salman al-Jumaili. But Baghdad residents had already been horrified by news of the bridge bombing, a demoralizing attack that stole one of the few remaining reminders of better days in the capital. The bomber drove a tanker truck loaded with explosives onto the bridge at 7 am and brought it to a halt midway, according to American military officials and witnesses. The driver examined the trucks underside and then disappeared. With the truck blocking traffic, motorists stopped a police patrol crossing the bridge and asked them to do something about it. Immediately suspicious, the police moved cars and people off the bridge and radioed to the patrols on the opposite side to stop people from starting across. One witness, a tractor driver, described a policeman opening the passenger door of the truck, seeing a mass of wires and batteries, and running away. Ten minutes later the bomb exploded, so powerfully that it killed six people some distance away, sent several cars careening into the river and destroyed 65 percent to 75 percent of the steel structure. Politicians, immediately sensitive to the impact of the bombing, swiftly condemned it, eulogized the structure and promised to rebuild it.
Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, who was traveling in South Korea, released a statement describing the bridge as one of the oldest and loveliest city bridges. In the Parliament attack, several lawmakers expressed bitterness at both the government and the Americans for failing to protect them and said the attack must have been carried out by someone who had security clearance and was able to avoid the multiple searches.
Moktada al-Sadr, said as he sat outside the hospital, holding gauze to his head to stanch bleeding from a shrapnel wound. This is the International Zone, protected by the Americans, Mr Mayali said. Its a big violation that they reached the center of decision-making.
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