Suicide truck bomb kills three in Baghdad
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-03-09 17:22

A suicide bomber detonated a garbage truck packed with explosives outside the Agriculture Ministry and a hotel used by Western contractors Wednesday, killing himself and at least three others, officials said.

Also Wednesday, police said they found the bodies of 20 people who had all been shot to death, near a village in Iraq's western border with Syria.

Iraqi authorities arrive at the scene after a powerful suicide bomb exploded in central Baghdad early March 9, 2005. A suicide bomber driving a garbage truck blew himself up on Wednesday near a Baghdad hotel used by Iraqi police and their foreign instructors, police said. [Reuters]

The corpses were found Tuesday in Rumana, a village about 12 miles east of the western city of Qaim, said Capt. Muzahim al-Karbouli.

Each of the bodies was riddled with bullets and found wearing civilian clothes, al-Karbouli said.

The dead included one woman, but their identities were not known, he said.

In the southern Iraqi city of Basra, guerrillas struck a police patrol with a roadside bomb, killing one officer and wounding three, Lt. Col. Karim Al-Zaydi said.

The attacks came a day after the U.S. military announced it was speeding up an inquiry into the shooting death of an Italian agent killed Friday by U.S. troops at a Baghdad checkpoint — an incident that has strained relations with Italy, a key American ally. The agent was escorting Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena to the airport just after insurgents freed her.

An injured man is evacuated after a powerful suicide bomb exploded in central Baghdad early March 9, 2005. [Reuters]

Also Tuesday, the military opened a separate inquiry into the shooting of a Bulgarian soldier who Bulgarian officials believe may have been killed accidentally by coalition troops.

Both probes are an indication of the pressure being brought on the United States by the few American allies in Europe that have steadfastly supported U.S. involvement in Iraq.

Wednesday's massive dawn blast in central Baghdad shook nearby buildings, injuring dozens of people and covering a huge swath of sky with acrid black smoke.

Volleys of automatic weapons fire could be heard before and after the explosion.

Police said a group of insurgents wearing police uniforms first shot dead a guard at the Agriculture Ministry's gate, allowing the truck to enter a compound the ministry shares with the adjacent Sadeer hotel. Guards in the area then fired on the vehicle, trying to disable it before it exploded.

Officials at al-Kindi hospital said at least three dead and eight wounded were taken there. Ibn al-Nafis hospital counted at least 27 wounded, said Dr. Falleh al-Jubouri.

The truck blew up in a parking lot, damaging about 20 cars. The blast also shattered windows in the roughly 10-story hotel and the smaller ministry but caused no serious structural damage.

U.S. troops and dozens of onlookers gathered at the edge of the debris-strewn crater, which measured 10 yards across and two yards deep.

The shooting Friday that killed Italian intelligence officer Nicola Calipari and wounded Sgrena, a 56-year-old journalist for the left-wing Il Manifesto newspaper, angered Italians and rekindled questions about the country's involvement in Iraq.

In Bulgaria, the death of Pvt. Gardi Gardev made the country's presence in Iraq an issue ahead of general elections in June. Opinion polls showed a growing majority of Bulgarians oppose the deployment. The opposition party has promised a withdrawal if it wins the election.

Italy sent 3,000 troops to Iraq, while Bulgaria has 460 here. Both countries have said they will not withdraw their troops, but domestic pressure to bring them home is growing.

In Rome, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's office said the premier had "expressed the satisfaction of the Italian government" at the accelerated U.S. military investigation. Friendly fire investigations typically take months.

US President Bush called Berlusconi on Friday and promised a full investigation into the attack, which took place after nightfall as the car carrying Sgrena, Calipari and two other agents approached Baghdad airport. Another agent also was wounded.

Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini told parliament Tuesday that U.S. troops killed Calipari by accident but disputed Washington's version of events.

Fini said the car carrying Calipari and Sgrena was not speeding and U.S. troops did not order it to stop, contrary to what U.S. officials say. But Fini dismissed allegations made by Sgrena that the shooting was an ambush.

"It was an accident," Fini said. "This does not prevent, in fact it makes it a duty for the government to demand that light be shed on the murky issues, that responsibilities be pinpointed, and, where found, that the culprits be punished."

The U.S.-led coalition said a follow-up investigation will be led by Brig. Gen. Peter Vangjel and will take three to four weeks. Italian officials were invited to participate.

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