- A car bomb has exploded in central Baghdad, killing at
least 10 people and injuring about 40.
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- The explosion happened as workers queued at the main
entrance to the area housing Iraqi government offices and the US and British
embassies.
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- A BBC correspondent, who was himself waiting to enter,
said the explosion came from a car about 50m behind him.
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- Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, who visited the scene,
vowed to crush those responsible for the attack.
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- "This is a naked aggression against the Iraqi people.
We will bring these criminals to justice," Mr Allawi said.
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- He suggested the blast might have been in response to
a police operation in Baghdad this week that led to the arrest of more
than 500 suspects.
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- In western Iraq, US troops clashed with insurgents in
the flashpoint Sunni city of Ramadi, about 100km (60 miles) from Baghdad,
witnesses said.
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- One report quoted an Iraqi doctor as saying three people
had been killed and 19 wounded.
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- Wreckage
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- The attack in Baghdad - the deadliest bombing since the
interim Iraqi government took office at the end of last month - happened
at 0515 GMT (0915 local time).
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- Pieces of shrapnel rained down and there was gunfire
as security guards struggled to control the panic.
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- The explosion occurred at a place where cars queue to
drop off and pick up people in the area previously known as the Green Zone,
the huge closed-off complex that until June was the headquarters of the
US-led authorities in Iraq.
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- Among those waiting to get inside the zone were office
workers, cleaners and journalists, including the BBC's Peter Greste.
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- He said they had just passed a number of new Toyota pick-up
trucks and were waiting to get security clearance when one of those vehicles
exploded barely 50m away.
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- He said at least four bodies were dragged from the burning
wreckage.
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- A US officer said it was almost certainly a suicide bombing.
Iraqi police said the car had been packed with 450kg (1,000lb) of explosives.
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- "We were thrown on the ground. I saw many dead people
on the ground," witness Alla Hassan said.
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- Faad Abed, a defence ministry employee who was slightly
injured in the leg, said he had been waiting in his car to enter the compound.
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- "The line of cars was very long and it was very
hot. So I got out of my car and stood in the shade. Then one of the cars
waiting in line blew up, and the impact was so strong I was blown away,"
Mr Abed told AFP news agency.
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- At least 10 ambulances ferried injured people away from
the scene.
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- Target
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- US forces cordoned off streets with tanks, while helicopters
circled overhead.
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- It is unclear whether there was a specific target or
whether it was a general attack on people doing business with the new Iraqi
government, our correspondent reports.
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- On Tuesday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said
they were in a race against time to deal with insurgents.
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- Speaking during a visit to Nato headquarters in Brussels,
Belgium, he urged the alliance to begin its promised programme to train
Iraq's new army.
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- Wednesday's blast came on a public holiday marking the
revolution that overthrew the monarchy in 1958.
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- The BBC's Caroline Hawley in Baghdad says insurgents
may have chosen to attack on 14 July because of its symbolic importance.
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- © BBC MMIV http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3892267.stm
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