Authorities question Iraqis in U.N. blast U.S. security official: Police investigate possibility of inside job
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) --With the help of the FBI, authorities are pursuing a theory that this week's deadly blast at U.N. headquarters in Baghdad may have been an inside job, a top U.S. security official said Friday. Investigators have started questioning Iraqis who worked at the converted Canal Hotel that is used as U.N. headquarters, according to Bernard Kerik, a former New York police commissioner who is a senior adviser to the Iraqi Interior Ministry. "There are indeed concerns about some of the people who worked at the Canal Hotel" and their connections with Iraqi intelligence services during Saddam Hussein's regime, Kerik said. Under Saddam's rule, it was not uncommon for Iraqis who worked with foreigners to be associated with his intelligence services. Kerik said he was uncertain whether Sergio Vieira de Mello, the U.N. envoy killed in the attack, was the target of the blast. But he said that the bombing appeared to be timed and planned in such a way that Viera de Mello could have been targeted. The flatbed truck packed with explosives that rocked the building and killed at least 22 people was positioned near the envoy's office. (Vieira de Mello profile) U.S. Rep. Harold Ford, who was part of a congressional delegation visiting Iraq at the time of the attack, said it was premature to become suspicious about Iraqi involvement. "We need to be careful before we jump to these conclusions," the Tennessee Democrat said. "... We have problems even in our own intelligence community here in America, with people sometimes jumping ship and betraying our confidence. "I think the long-term goal has to be to shift as much authority as we can to the new [Iraqi] Governing Council after they create and ratify a constitution. A lot of our efforts have to be on involving more and more Iraqis to gain their confidence and ensure credibility in a new government." Authorities tracking down leads into the bombing said they suspect remnants of Saddam's regime, foreign terrorists or the al Qaeda-linked group Ansar al-Islam could have been responsible. Al Arabiya, the Arabic-language TV network, said it received a claim of responsibility for the bombing from a previously unknown group called the Armed Vanguards of the Second Muhammad Army. Its claim could not be confirmed. Tuesday's truck bomb attack was one of the worst incidents in the history of the United Nations. (Full story) At Baghdad airport Friday, a somber memorial service was held before Vieira de Mello's body was flown aboard a Brazilian air force jet to his homeland of Brazil. (Full story) Meanwhile, Marilyn Manuel, reported to have died in Tuesday's U.N. bombing, stunned her family Friday when she called to say she was fine. (Family's reaction) While the United Nations has offered no official comment, U.N. sources said they suspect Manuel was confused with a Spanish naval captain with the same last name who was killed in the bombing. Two U.S. troops killed The death toll for American service members in Iraq rose again Friday with the announcement of two more deaths. Since President Bush declared an end to major combat in Iraq on May 1, 135 U.S. troops have died, including 61 as a result of "hostile fire." On Thursday, a U.S. service member was shot and killed while riding in a sport utility vehicle in congested traffic in Hillah, 60 miles (90 kilometers) south of Baghdad, U.S. Central Command said. Another soldier with the 1st Armored Division died and six others were wounded in a fire at a small-arms range, the command said. The fire broke out at a range in Baghdad's Karadah district at about 4:30 p.m. local time. Officials said the soldier died from burns and smoke inhalation. The others were evacuated to military hospitals. Before Bush announced the end of major combat, 138 U.S. service members had died. Diplomatic moves at U.N. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Friday that a new resolution for a broader multinational role in Iraq under a U.N. mandate is possible, but only if decision-making is shared among countries that commit their resources. (Full story) "If that doesn't happen," Annan said, "I think it's going to be very difficult" to get a resolution that will "satisfy everybody." U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday the United States was looking into a new U.N. resolution that "might call on member states to do more" to bolster security in Iraq. (Full story) Other countries on the U.N. Security Council have been calling for the United States and Britain to make power-sharing concessions. But Bush administration sources said that the White House intends to maintain its primary military or political control of the postwar transition. The diplomatic moves come in the wake of Tuesday's bombing at U.N. headquarters in Baghdad. On Friday in New York, Annan and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw discussed the possibility for a "deeper U.N. role" and tighter security at the United Nations. "Security is of great concern to us," Annan said. He said a U.N. team is going to Baghdad to assess the security situation. Discussions about a new resolution took place Thursday at the Security Council, and Straw called the talks "constructive." Annan met Thursday with Powell, and Straw and Powell were to confer later Friday. CNN Correspondents Rym Brahimi and Barbara Starr and Producer Marga Ortigas contributed to this report.
Find this article at: http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/08/22/sprj.irq.main/index.html
________________________
Quis custodiet istos custodes? (Who will watch the watchers?)
-- Juvenal's Satires, circa 110 AD