Iraqi town protests at bomb blast
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4308529.stm
Hilla protesters are angry with the police over the bomb attack
Relatives of 125 victims of a car bomb in the Iraqi town of Hilla have
begun burying their dead, as hundreds took to the streets in protest at the
attack.
They demanded improved security measures and accused local police of
failing to prevent the massive bomb blast that wounded at least 130 others.
The bombing happened as people queued for government jobs in the Shia
town,
100km (60 miles) south of Baghdad.
It is the worst single attack since the US-led invasion nearly two years
ago.
A claim of responsibility was made on an Islamist website by a group
calling itself the al-Qaeda Organisation for Holy War in Iraq, Reuters news
agency reported. The claim could not be independently verified.
Sunni insurgents are blamed for much of the violence against the US-backed
authorities and the majority Shias, whose political representatives won
January's
election.
Distraught relatives
Demonstrators were furious with local police, accusing them of not doing
their jobs properly.
"We have no use for these security services if they cannot prevent
attacks," Ali Mohammed, 30, who lost a relative in the bombing, told the AFP
news
agency.
"We blame Hilla police for this tragedy because they didn't take the
necessary measures to protect innocent people," Hussein Hassoun, who lost two
nephews, told the Associated Press.
DEADLIEST ATTACKS
29 July 2004: A suicide car bomb kills at least 70 people in a busy
street in Baquba
2 March 2004: Co-ordinated attacks outside mosques in Karbala and
Baghdad kill more than 170 people and wound dozens more
10 February 2004: A suicide bomb outside a police station in
Iskandariya kills 55 people
1 February 2004: A double suicide attack outside Kurdish party
offices kill 105 in Irbil
23 August 2003: A car bomb outside a mosque in Najaf kills at least
83 people
19 August 2004: A truck bomb outside UN headquarters in Baghdad
kills
22 people
Sources: AP, AFP
Local police were quoted on Monday as saying they had launched an
investigation, and several people had been arrested in connection with the
blast.
The Associated Press described distressing scenes as relatives combed the
town's morgue, looking for their loved ones.
Many victims could not be identified because they had been so charred or
dismembered by the blast.
Bodies had to lie out in the open because the morgue could not cope with
the number of casualties.
Those who had managed to find their dead relatives loaded wooden coffins
on
to pick-up trucks so they could prepare the bodies for burial.
Provincial governor Walid al-Janabi told reporters in Hilla that there
would be no funeral procession because of "security reasons," the AP said.
Police
reportedly said they feared further attacks.
'Senseless violence'
The car bomb, believed to have been driven by a suicide bomber, targeted a
queue of people applying for work in the security services.
People in a nearby market were caught up in the massive blast.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan condemned the attack "in the strongest
possible terms".
He said the only purpose of such "repeated acts of senseless violence" was
to "undermine the prospects for a democratic and prosperous Iraq".
Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said on Monday that Iraq's security
forces were still unable to take on the insurgency without the help of US
troops.
"Iraqis should be able to start taking over more and more security
responsibilities very soon," he wrote in the Wall Street Journal before the
attack in Hilla.
"But we will continue to need and to seek assistance for some time to
come."
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