Saddam loyalists suspected in New Year's Eve blast ( 2004-01-02 09:27) (Agencies)
A U.S. military commander said Thursday that supporters of Saddam Hussein
most likely carried out a New Year's Eve attack on a Baghdad restaurant.
Houses adjacent to
Baghdad's Nabil restaurant were damaged in the New Year's Eve
bombing.
Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt told CNN eight
people were killed in the car bomb attack on the Nabil restaurant in central
Baghdad, which took place at 9:22 p.m. (1:22 p.m. ET), as patrons celebrated the
imminent arrival of a new year.
No soldiers were killed or wounded at the restaurant but the civilian death
toll remains unclear.
While the U.S. military reports eight people were killed, Iraqi police said
seven were dead and 20 others wounded. Gen. Ahmed Kadhim Ibrahim, Iraq's
national police chief, told CNN five people -- all Iraqis -- were killed and 14
others wounded.
Ibrahim also blamed the attack on a suicide bomber, but the U.S.-led
Coalition Provisional Authority said the vehicle -- a green BMW -- was remotely
detonated.
The car exploded outside the restaurant, a trendy eatery popular with
Westerners that had advertised a New Year's Eve celebration.
Among the wounded were three correspondents for the Los Angeles Times.
The insurgents behind the attack were most likely supporters of former Iraqi
leader Saddam Hussein, a U.S. military commander said Thursday.
"We have no indications right now who is responsible, but the method that was
used would indicate that it probably was a member of the former regime who put
the car bomb [beside] the restaurant when it blew up," Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt,
the coalition's deputy chief of operations, told CNN's "American Morning."
Kimmitt dismissed reports from Iraqi officials that 1,000 pounds of
explosives were used, saying his information indicated 400 pounds of high
explosives and artillery shells were involved.
Ibrahim said authorities had information six days ago that such an attack was
possible, though no specific target had been mentioned.
He said he ordered police to stay alert and set up checkpoints and told
restaurants hosting New Year's Eve parties not to let cars park near their
establishments.
U.S. forces were on heightened alert, fearing insurgents could launch other
attacks to coincide with the New Year's holiday.
Earlier Wednesday, two roadside bombs detonated in the Iraqi capital, one
targeting a U.S. military convoy.
An 8-year-old boy died in that attack, Iraqi sources said. Five U.S. soldiers
and three Iraq Civil Defense Corps personnel also were injured, according to
Brig. Gen. Martin Dempsey, commander of the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division.
Other developments
Coalition authorities are investigating what caused a five-ton military truck
to flip over Thursday morning just outside Baghdad, killing one U.S. soldier and
wounding six, according to the Coalition Joint Task Force. The truck was
traveling south of Lake Habbaniya west of the Iraqi capital, heading to Baghdad
International Airport, when it flipped on its side, the coalition said. Four of
the six wounded soldiers have returned to duty; the other two remain
hospitalized.
A U.S. military helicopter experienced mechanical failure Thursday, forcing
the aircraft to make a hard landing near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul,
according to spokesmen from the 101st Airborne Division. One soldier received
minor injuries in the incident and was taken to a hospital for treatment, Maj.
Trey Cate said. Around 4:45 p.m. (8:45 a.m. ET), a warning light came on
indicating a problem with the tail rudder system, Cate said. Seven passengers,
including four crew members, were aboard at the time the craft went down
southeast of Mosul. Soldiers from the 101st and the 4th Infantry Division, which
controls the area around Mosul, are securing the helicopter until it can be
recovered.
