BAGHDAD, 20 June 2005 — At least 23 people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a busy kebab restaurant near Baghdad’s Green Zone yesterday, one of a string of attacks across the country that claimed a total of 43 lives. It was the bloodiest day in Baghdad since the launch almost a month ago of a sweeping anti-insurgency offensive in the capital dubbed Operation Lightning and came as US and Iraqi forces battled rebels near the Syrian border.
A man strapped with an explosives belt entered the Zanbour (male bee) restaurant and detonated his charge as dozens of policemen and civilians were having lunch.
Meanwhile, Saddam Hussein was annoyed by his interrogation by an Iraqi judge for alleged crimes against humanity, shown to the world in a video released this month, a member of the toppled dictator’s defense team said yesterday. Jordanian lawyer Issam Ghazzawi said Saddam’s Iraqi lawyer, Khalil Dulaimi, told the defense team Saddam “appeared in good health, his morale is very high but he was upset with the interrogation because he considered it silly.”
