|
Explosions
rattle
Italian
embassy
in
Iraq
by
Thursday
09
December
2004
2:20
PM
GMT
 |
| Shells
exploded
just
50
metres
from
the
embassy
in
Baghdad |
A
number
of mortar
shells
have
exploded
near
the
Italian
embassy
in
Baghdad
,
Defence
Minister
Antonio
Martino
said.
"Several
mortar
shells
fell
about
50
metres
from
the
embassy
but
there
were
no
Italian
victims,"
he
said
in
Rome
on
Thursday.
"We
don't
know
if
there
were
Iraqi
victims."
Martino
added:
"Our
intelligence
services
have
for
some
time
been
passing
us
information
that
an
attack
against
the
embassy
may
be
possible.
This
time
there
was
no
harm
done."
Italy
has
3000
military
personnel
in
Iraq
based
in
the
area
around
the
southern
town
of
Nasiriya
.
Demands
Following
the
attack,
several
members
of
the
Italian
opposition
again
called
for
Italian
troops
to
be
pulled
out
of
Iraq
.
Martino
did
not
respond
to
the
opposition's
requests.
However,
he
did
deny
reports
that
appeared
in
the
Italian
military
journal,
Analisi
difesa,
that
four
Mangusta
attack
helicopters
had
been
sent
to
Iraq
to
boost
the
Italian
contingent
in
advance
of
elections
there
in
January.
 |
|
Iraqi
guardsmen
were hurt
in
an
explosion
in
Mosul
on
Thursday
|
"The
Mangustas
have
not
been
sent
to
Iraq
and
there
are
no
plans
to
send
them,"
he
said.
The
A-129
Mangusta
is
an
Italian
combat
helicopter
equipped
with
anti-tank
missiles
and
a
20mm
machine
gun.
Mosul
attacks
In
other
incidents,
six
Iraqi
guardsmen
and
10
civilians
were
wounded
in
two
bomb
attacks
in
the
northern
city
of
Mosul,
police
said.
A
bomb
concealed
in
a
motorcycle
side-car
exploded
at
around
2.00pm
(1100
GMT)
on
Thursday
at
the
Yarmuk
roundabout
in
the
centre
of
Iraq's
third
city,
targeting
US
and
Iraqi
soldiers,
Lieutenant
Bassam
Salim
said.
Earlier,
10
Iraqis
were
wounded
when
a
car
bomb
exploded
close
to
a
US
convoy
in
Mosul,
the
US
military
said.
"A
car
bomb
attack
occurred
at
around
10.00am. Ten
Iraqi
civilians
were
wounded,"
Lieutenant-Colonel
Hastings
said. "A
US
forces
convoy
was
in
the
vicinity
but
there
was
no
damage
or
(American)
injuries."
Elsewhere,
five
Iraqis
were
killed
and
two
others
injured
by
US
fire,
Aljazeera
has
learned.
The
incident
took
place
in
the
Abu
Ghraib
area,
west
of
Baghdad
,
on
Thursday
morning
after
US
forces
came
under
separate
attacks
by
unknown
fighters.
New
alliance
Meanwhile,
an
Iraqi
Shia
group
has
unveiled
a
broad-based
coalition
to
contest
the
poll,
with
backing
from
some
Sunni
and Kurdish
groups
as
well.
 |
|
Attacks
have
continued
across
Iraq
with elections
weeks
away
|
Calling
itself
the
United
Iraqi
Alliance,
the
coalition
brings
together
22
parties,
groups
and
movements,
mostly
representing
Iraq's
Shia
population
but
also
drawing
support
from
other
points
on
the
religious
spectrum.
The
list
has
been
formed
under
the
auspices
of
the
country's
most
influential
Shia
cleric,
Ayat
Allah
Ali
al-Sistani,
and
is
likely
to
be
the
most
powerful
political
bloc
to
stand
in
the
first
post-Saddam
Hussein
elections,
scheduled
for
30
January.
"This
is
a
united
list,
representing
all
Iraqis,
not
just
Shia,"
Hussain
al-Shahristani,
a
former
nuclear
scientist
jailed
by
Saddam
who
was
instrumental
in
building
up
the
coalition
over
the
past
two
months,
said
on
Thursday.
The
leading
groups
on
the
slate
are
the
two
main
Shia
religious
parties
-
the
Supreme
Council
for
the
Islamic
Revolution
in
Iraq
(SCIRI)
and
Dawa
-
while
Ahmad
Chalabi,
a
former
US
favourite
who
heads
the
Iraqi
National
Congress,
also
has
a
prominent
role.
Aljazeera
+
Agencies
By
You
can
find
this
article
at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/72BE9C5E-F9B5-4135-939B-C1031C047A2F.htm
|
