A car parked near police headquarters in central Baghdad exploded Tuesday, wounding an unknown number of bystanders, one seriously, but doing little damage to the police building.

Iraqi police Maj. Bassal al-Ani told The Associated Press there were no fatalities.

Huge plumes of black smoke rose above the scene and U.S. military police and Iraqi police cordoned off the area.

One man, a witness who had a shrapnel wound in his left arm, said he saw a hand laying in the road.

"There was debris blown everywhere," said Raad Majid, 27. He said he was about 30 yards away when the blast occurred.

Acting Baghdad police chief Hassan al-Obeidi has offices in the headquarters building and is closely associated with the U.S.-led occupation authority, especially former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, who put al-Obeidi in his position. Kerik has been in Iraq to rebuild the country's police force.

Al-Obeidi was being mentored by Dep. Chief Constable Doug Brand, a detective from Sheffield, England, and was shot in the leg at the end of July during a weapons raid in downtown Baghdad.

The day after the raid, he moved a bed into his office, from which continued to command the police force without taking any time off.

The police headquarters is not far from the Iraqi Interior Ministry building.

The U.S. military said it had no immediate comment on the bombing.

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