BAGHDAD, 12 November 2003 — A bomb blew up a minibus in the southern city of Basra yesterday, killing at least six passengers as the chief US administrator for Iraq went to Washington for consultation on how to contain increasing violence in the war-torn country.
The bomb in the center of Basra blew up a bus and badly damaged a car. Among the dead were two policemen. “Nine civilians were wounded,” said Police Col. Mohammed Khazim Al-Ali.
“Some of the injured are schoolchildren. Boys and girls use this road early in the morning to go to school,” said Ali, the head of internal security forces in Basra. Two occupants of the car were also injured.
A second explosion was heard in downtown Basra about midday, but it was not immediately known if there were any casualties.
Southern Iraq has seen fewer attacks on occupying troops than Baghdad and the surrounding areas. At least 153 US and 12 British soldiers have been killed in action since Washington declared major combat over on May 1.
Here in Baghdad, the coalition military commander, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, told reporters that the US military had arrested about 20 people who may have been linked to Al-Qaeda, but none had been confirmed as part of Osama Bin Laden’s terror network. “At one point, we had up to about 20 suspected Al-Qaeda members, but as we have continued to refine and interrogate, we have not been able to establish definitively that they were Al-Qaeda members,” Sanchez said.
US officials have said they suspect foreign volunteers, including some from Al-Qaeda, have slipped across the borders into Iraq to take part in a “holy war” against the US-led occupation.
However, a number of US commanders have said they were uncertain about the numbers of foreign fighters and their role in the insurgency. Sanchez said “hundreds” of foreigners cross the border area to carry out attacks here.
“We’re seeing Yemenis, we’re seeing Sudanese, we’re seeing Syrians and Egyptians, to name a few,” Sanchez said.
Asked how close US forces had been to capturing Saddam Hussein, Sanchez replied only: “Not close enough.”
American commanders have speculated that they are facing attacks from Saddam supporters, religious extremists and foreign fighters. US officials have said at least some of the attacks may have been orchestrated by Saddam’s former deputy Izzat Ibrahim Al-Douri, who may have forged an alliance with the Kurdish religious extremist group Ansar Al-Islam.
Meanwhile, an explosion occurred in the afternoon as US soldiers were escorting 16 Iraqi prisoners from jail to the appellate court in the Waziriyah district. Two Iraqi policemen and two prisoners were injured, police Sgt. Ali Manhal said.
Elsewhere, about 200 Shiites rallied briefly in the eastern Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City to protest the shooting death of the mayor, Muhanad Ghazi Al-Kabi, by US soldiers.
Iraq’s US governor Paul Bremer arrived in Washington and was expected to meet soon with top officials at the White House for what is likely to be a decision-making session, a US official said. “When decisions need to be made, Bremer comes. Some decisions need to be made,” the official said, adding he presumed the issues dealt with security and the political transition in Iraq.
The official said there was no expectation Bremer would be leaving his post.
— Additional input from agencies
