Iraqi Parliament and bridge bombed

"An umbrella insurgent group that includes Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia claimed responsibility on Friday for a brazen suicide bombing the previous day inside the Parliament building. The attack killed one legislator and wounded at least 22 other people.
The group, the Islamic State of Iraq, has a longstanding goal of toppling the government and driving the Americans from the country.
“A heroic knight of the Islamic State of Iraq, may God bless its men, went inside the crowd of the infidels of the so-called Parliament on Thursday, April 12, 2007,” the group said in an Internet posting, according to a translation from the SITE Institute, which tracks jihadist messages. “God has destroyed the crowds of defectors and infidels.”
. . . Parliament held an emergency session on Friday, the Muslim day of prayer, to mourn the death of Muhammad Awad, the legislator who was killed. Mr. Awad was a member of the National Dialogue Front, a Sunni Arab political party." [1]

"In a separate and in some ways equally traumatic attack early in the day, a truck bomb destroyed the beloved 60-year-old Sarafiya bridge across the Tigris and killed six people. The heavily traveled bridge has long been a symbol of Baghdad, illustrated on old postcards and drawings from a more peaceful time.
. . . Several lawmakers said that their guards were often able to bully their way through checkpoints without being searched and that some carried high-level badges that made them and their vehicles exempt from being examined when the entered the zone.
'No one can bring bombs into this zone or this building except the lawmakers and their guards, and some of the lawmakers’ convoys are not searched,' said Wail Abdul Latif, a legislator from the secular Iraqiya bloc led by the former interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi. 'Some of the lawmakers’ guards make trouble at the checkpoints, some of them refuse to be searched. They are not very professional.' " [2]

"A suicide bombing in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone and an attack on a landmark bridge yesterday showed that there is still "a long way to go" in securing the Iraqi capital, a senior U.S. general in Iraq said today, but he also pointed to 'steady progress' overall in tamping down the city's rampant violence.
Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, commander of Multi-National Corps - Iraq, also told Pentagon reporters in a video news conference that the military is not yet sure whether it will need to maintain higher troop levels -- resulting from a current 'surge' of reinforcements -- into 2008. He said an initial assessment will be made this summer, probably in July or August,' and we'll make a determination then how long we think we need to maintain the surge."
. . . He said, 'Al-Qaeda wants to make it about one or two events. They want to try to incite chaos.'
Asked what he would say to Iraqi lawmakers who pronounced the security plan dead because of yesterday's bombing, Odierno said they were speaking 'out of frustration.' [3]

sources
[1] Wong, Edward. (The New York Times). Qaeda Group in Iraq Says It Led Attack on Parliament. April 14, 2007.
[2] Rubin, Alissa J. (The New York Times). 8 Iraqis Killed in Bomb Attack at Legislature. April 13, 2007.
[3] Branigin, William. (The Washington Post). Commander: Baghdad Bombing Shows 'Long Way to Go' for Security. April 13, 2007.

posted: sunday, april 15, 2007, 2:33 PM ET

tags: iraq parliament al qaeda