بغداد کے فائیو اسٹار ہوٹل کے باہر بم دھماکوں سے 36 افراد ہلاک ہوگئے۔۔۔۔

At least 36 people were killed today when insurgents set off a series of car bombs outside some of Baghdad's best known international hotels, including one which hosts the offices of The Times.

The three huge explosions rocked the Iraqi capital shortly before the Government announced the execution of Saddam Hussein's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, also known as "Chemical Ali". It was unclear whether there was any connection between the two events.

The first explosion, at 3.40pm, targeted the Ishtar Sheraton hotel, a Baghdad landmark on the eastern side of the Tigris, sending a huge plume of smoke into the sky. Shortly afterwards, a car bomb was set off at the Babylon hotel which is used by Iraqi travellers and sometimes for government meetings.

Oliver August, a correspondent for The Times, said that the final blast caused widespread destruction at the al-Hamra hotel, where the newspaper has its office.

August said that he watched from a balcony at the Hamra, on the western side of the river, as a gun battle broke out. He saw a white van bulldoze its way through the security cordon at high speed and stop only 15 metres (50ft) from the hotel.

Witnesses saw a red flash inside the van before it exploded, razing nearby buildings and destroying the lobby of the hotel, which is popular with Western journalists.

"Moments before the van exploded, I saw someone running away. I'm not sure if it was the bomber or not," August said.

"The buildings on either side are wiped out. This is a ten-storey building and every window has been smashed. Even my fridge door has been blown off and there are now no windows in the kitchen."

He added: "There are car parts strewn all over the hotel lobby and all the lights have gone. A lot of cars have been destroyed, including the Times car —- it is sitting a few yards from the five-metre wide bomb crater. The buildings to the left and right of the crater have just been wiped out."

There was no claim of responsibility for today's attacks, which come six weeks after a series of blasts killed 127 and prompted widespread protests at the government's inability to prevent terrorist attacks.

According to initial tallies, 15 of the victims were at the al-Hamra, 14 at the Sheraton, and the remaining seven died at the Babylon, including two policemen.

Outside the Sheraton, a high-rise tower with views of the Tigris River and the fortified Green Zone on the other side, the blast left a three-metre-deep crater in the parking lot. Cars were torn apart by the spray of metal and glass, which littered the lawns and courtyards of the popular fish restaurants along the river.

Times Uk