Iraq reels from deadly blasts
2007-01-17 14:38
Jay Deshmukh
Baghdad - Iraq reeled on Wednesday from twin bombings at a university which killed 70, as US President George W Bush warned the botched hanging of Saddam Hussein made it harder to contain sectarian violence ripping Iraq apart.
Tuesday's attacks, in which a suicide bomber and a car bomb exploded outside the renowned Mustansiriyah university in east Baghdad, has been blamed on Saddam's Sunni followers by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki among others.
Officials said at least 70 students and staff members were killed and 138 wounded in the deadliest violence in the war-torn country so far this year.
The double bombing came as students, professors and other employees of the university headed home at the end of the day, leaving corpses littered in the street and charred bodies in vehicles which had turned into fiery coffins.
On Wednesday dozens of Iraqis were seen queuing to donate blood for victims of the attack, which marked the deadliest bombings since a series of car bombs ripped through Baghdad's Shi'ite bastion of Sadr City on November 23, killing 202 people.
Attack expected after executions
Many in the violence-wracked capital had been expecting a major attack in the wake of the December 30 botched execution of Saddam Hussein, who was taunted by a guard, allegedly a Shi'ite, in his final moments and due to the hanging of two Saddam aides on Monday, in which one was decapitated during the hanging process.
On Tuesday, Bush told PBS television in an interview that Saddam's execution had looked like a "revenge killing".
"When it came to execute him (Saddam), it looked like it was kind of a revenge killing. And it sent a mixed signal to the American people and the people around the world," he said.
Bush said the execution "reinforced doubts" about Premier Maliki's desire to quell the violence and about whether "the unity government of Iraq is a serious government".
The hangings angered the once powerful Sunni Arab community that accuses Maliki and his government of turning a blind eye towards militias which are killing their fellow members.
- AFP