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Suicide bomber kills at least 47 in Iraq
Possible letter to al-Zarqawi cites low morale
Wednesday, May 4, 2005 Posted: 7:47 AM EDT (1147 GMT)
A man wounded in the suicide bombing in Erbil is rushed into a hospital.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A suicide bomber on Wednesday attacked a crowd of recruits seeking jobs with the Kurdish police force in Erbil, killing at least 47 people and wounding 100 others, officials said.
More than 300 people were at the recruitment center when the attack occurred, said Karim Zingari, Erbil's Interior Minister.
Bodies and the wounded were loaded into ambulances and pickup trucks. Dozens of people were rushed to hospitals.
The bomber was standing among the recruits when he set off his explosives, said an official with the Kurdish Democratic Party, whose headquarters is nearby.
Iraqi civilian Hawra Mohammed, 37, told The Associated Press he had just dropped his brother Ahmed, 32, off at the center at the time of the explosion.
Hawra said he raced back to find his brother lying in a street, bleeding and unconscious. But Ahmed soon began to move, AP reported.
"I lifted my brother onto my shoulders and took him to a nearby hospital," Hawra told AP. "The blood on my shirt is my brother's."
Hawra said that he nearly fainted at the sight of dead bodies and that many of the victims were unemployed, just like his brother, and wanted to earn money as policemen, according to AP.
Erbil is about 200 miles (322 km) north of Baghdad.
Insurgents have often targeted Iraqi security forces, including police and army recruits.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military said it has seized a letter from Iraqi insurgents believed to be intended for Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi complaining about low morale among followers and weakening support for the insurgency.
The authenticity of the letter -- which the military said American troops found Thursday in a raid in Baghdad -- could not be independently verified.
The letter -- which never refers to al-Zarqawi by name -- is written to Sheik Abu Ahmad, a name not known to be used by the militant leader or his followers. But supporters often call al-Zarqawi the Sheik or Sheik Abu Musab in letters and on Web sites.
"What has happened to myself and my brothers is an unforgivable crime, but God will punish the oppressor," the letter reads. "I swear by God that you will be asked about what happened to us because you have not asked about the situation of the migrants. Morale is down and there is fatigue among mujahedeen ranks.
"There is discrimination by some of the brethren emirs. God would not accept such actions, and a simple mistake delays victory, so what about big mistakes and gross guilts? Many underestimate them and are lenient toward them." (Full story)
Key posts under discussion
Shiite Arab leader Ibrahim al-Jaafari was sworn in Tuesday as the transitional prime minister for Iraq's first democratically elected government after Saddam Hussein's regime.
"On this historic day I would like to pay tribute to the Iraqi people because of this historic accomplishment," President Jalal Talabani said. Referring to the new officials, he said, "I think they are capable of this mission."
On Thursday, al-Jaafari announced 36 Cabinet positions in the new government -- some of them temporary. New Cabinet members were sworn in one by one Tuesday. In addition to al-Jaafari, 27 other officials took their oaths of office.
The full Iraqi government will not be in place Tuesday because key ministry posts remain under discussion. Among those ministries are oil, defense, electricity, human rights, and industry and minerals, which are in temporary hands, and two deputy prime ministries, which are unfilled. (Cabinet list)
It is unclear why two Sunni Arabs who had been chosen for the ministers of women affairs and provinces affairs were not sworn in.
Sunnis -- who dominated under Saddam -- did not turn out in significant numbers for the January 30 elections. But Iraqi politicians have been making efforts to bring them into the new government.
Other developments
* Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer appeared on Arabic-language satellite television Wednesday pleading for the release of Douglas Wood, an Australian who was kidnapped in Iraq. On Sunday, video was broadcast of Wood begging for his life surrounded by armed, masked militants. Prime Minister John Howard said Monday that his government will not follow insurgent demands to withdraw its troops from Iraq. (Full story)
* The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff has issued a report to Congress saying military deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan could hamstring Washington's ability to fight other wars, a senior military official said. The official said the report concludes that future armed conflicts would last longer and produce higher casualties because of Iraq and Afghan deployments. (Full story)
* Separate roadside bomb attacks Tuesday killed two U.S. soldiers, a military statement said. The Task Force Baghdad Soldiers died when their vehicles were hit by improvised explosive devices. Since the start of the war, 1,591 U.S. military personnel have died in Iraq.
* Iraq Security Forces this week captured one of the sons of Saddam Hussein's half-brother, Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hasan al-Tikriti, in a raid north of Tikrit, a statement from the Iraqi government press office said. The government described Ayman Sabawi as "an active supporter of the terrorist insurgency," who along with his brothers "played a particularly active role in sustaining the terrorism by providing financial support, weapons and explosives to terrorist groups."
* U.S. Army Pfc. Lynndie England -- the reservist whose image symbolized the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq -- pleaded guilty Monday to charges related to the abuse at the Baghdad facility. The sentencing phase for England began Tuesday. (Full story)
CNN's Kevin Flower, Geoff Hiscock, Kathleen Koch, Octavia Nasr and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.
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Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Possible letter to al-Zarqawi cites low morale
Wednesday, May 4, 2005 Posted: 7:47 AM EDT (1147 GMT)
A man wounded in the suicide bombing in Erbil is rushed into a hospital.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A suicide bomber on Wednesday attacked a crowd of recruits seeking jobs with the Kurdish police force in Erbil, killing at least 47 people and wounding 100 others, officials said.
More than 300 people were at the recruitment center when the attack occurred, said Karim Zingari, Erbil's Interior Minister.
Bodies and the wounded were loaded into ambulances and pickup trucks. Dozens of people were rushed to hospitals.
The bomber was standing among the recruits when he set off his explosives, said an official with the Kurdish Democratic Party, whose headquarters is nearby.
Iraqi civilian Hawra Mohammed, 37, told The Associated Press he had just dropped his brother Ahmed, 32, off at the center at the time of the explosion.
Hawra said he raced back to find his brother lying in a street, bleeding and unconscious. But Ahmed soon began to move, AP reported.
"I lifted my brother onto my shoulders and took him to a nearby hospital," Hawra told AP. "The blood on my shirt is my brother's."
Hawra said that he nearly fainted at the sight of dead bodies and that many of the victims were unemployed, just like his brother, and wanted to earn money as policemen, according to AP.
Erbil is about 200 miles (322 km) north of Baghdad.
Insurgents have often targeted Iraqi security forces, including police and army recruits.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military said it has seized a letter from Iraqi insurgents believed to be intended for Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi complaining about low morale among followers and weakening support for the insurgency.
The authenticity of the letter -- which the military said American troops found Thursday in a raid in Baghdad -- could not be independently verified.
The letter -- which never refers to al-Zarqawi by name -- is written to Sheik Abu Ahmad, a name not known to be used by the militant leader or his followers. But supporters often call al-Zarqawi the Sheik or Sheik Abu Musab in letters and on Web sites.
"What has happened to myself and my brothers is an unforgivable crime, but God will punish the oppressor," the letter reads. "I swear by God that you will be asked about what happened to us because you have not asked about the situation of the migrants. Morale is down and there is fatigue among mujahedeen ranks.
"There is discrimination by some of the brethren emirs. God would not accept such actions, and a simple mistake delays victory, so what about big mistakes and gross guilts? Many underestimate them and are lenient toward them." (Full story)
Key posts under discussion
Shiite Arab leader Ibrahim al-Jaafari was sworn in Tuesday as the transitional prime minister for Iraq's first democratically elected government after Saddam Hussein's regime.
"On this historic day I would like to pay tribute to the Iraqi people because of this historic accomplishment," President Jalal Talabani said. Referring to the new officials, he said, "I think they are capable of this mission."
On Thursday, al-Jaafari announced 36 Cabinet positions in the new government -- some of them temporary. New Cabinet members were sworn in one by one Tuesday. In addition to al-Jaafari, 27 other officials took their oaths of office.
The full Iraqi government will not be in place Tuesday because key ministry posts remain under discussion. Among those ministries are oil, defense, electricity, human rights, and industry and minerals, which are in temporary hands, and two deputy prime ministries, which are unfilled. (Cabinet list)
It is unclear why two Sunni Arabs who had been chosen for the ministers of women affairs and provinces affairs were not sworn in.
Sunnis -- who dominated under Saddam -- did not turn out in significant numbers for the January 30 elections. But Iraqi politicians have been making efforts to bring them into the new government.
Other developments
* Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer appeared on Arabic-language satellite television Wednesday pleading for the release of Douglas Wood, an Australian who was kidnapped in Iraq. On Sunday, video was broadcast of Wood begging for his life surrounded by armed, masked militants. Prime Minister John Howard said Monday that his government will not follow insurgent demands to withdraw its troops from Iraq. (Full story)
* The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff has issued a report to Congress saying military deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan could hamstring Washington's ability to fight other wars, a senior military official said. The official said the report concludes that future armed conflicts would last longer and produce higher casualties because of Iraq and Afghan deployments. (Full story)
* Separate roadside bomb attacks Tuesday killed two U.S. soldiers, a military statement said. The Task Force Baghdad Soldiers died when their vehicles were hit by improvised explosive devices. Since the start of the war, 1,591 U.S. military personnel have died in Iraq.
* Iraq Security Forces this week captured one of the sons of Saddam Hussein's half-brother, Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hasan al-Tikriti, in a raid north of Tikrit, a statement from the Iraqi government press office said. The government described Ayman Sabawi as "an active supporter of the terrorist insurgency," who along with his brothers "played a particularly active role in sustaining the terrorism by providing financial support, weapons and explosives to terrorist groups."
* U.S. Army Pfc. Lynndie England -- the reservist whose image symbolized the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq -- pleaded guilty Monday to charges related to the abuse at the Baghdad facility. The sentencing phase for England began Tuesday. (Full story)
CNN's Kevin Flower, Geoff Hiscock, Kathleen Koch, Octavia Nasr and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
Story Tools
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