Bomb injures Polish ambassador in Baghdad

CNN

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A bomb targeted the convoy of the Polish ambassador to Iraq in Baghdad on Wednesday, killing an Iraqi civilian and injuring the diplomat and at least three others, authorities said.

A parked car detonated and struck sport utility vehicles sporting Polish flags on the side.

Iraq's Interior Ministry said a parked car detonated in the downtown neighborhood of Karrada and struck a multi-vehicle Polish convoy -- sport utility vehicles that sported Polish flags on the side.

The Polish deputy chief of mission in Baghdad said the ambassador was in a three-vehicle convoy traveling in Baghdad when an improvised bomb detonated.

The U.S. military swiftly moved into the area and sealed off the street.

Mirembe Nantongo, spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, said U.S. troops assisted with evacuation and medical support.

"We condemn this barbarous attack on a diplomatic convoy," Nantongo said.

The ambassador, Gen. Edward Pietrzyk, is at the U.S. military hospital in Baghdad in stable condition. Several private security guards were wounded and rushed to hospitals. The vehicles were "burned down," the chief of mission said. Watch video from the scene of the attack »

Poland has had a strong presence in the U.S.-led coalition, and its military commands the Multi-National Division-Central South region.

According to the Brookings Institution's Iraq Index, Poland has a contingent of about 900 troops in the country. Twenty-one Polish troops have died in the Iraq war.

In 2004, insurgents attacked the Polish Embassy in Baghdad, but no one was injured.

On Tuesday, authorities in Baghdad found nine bodies across the capital, bringing to 20 the number of bodies found in the first two days of October, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said.

The number of bodies found in the streets of the capital has been dropping since July, when 612 bodies were found. In August, 428 bodies were found, and in September 301 bodies were found.

In other news, the Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella group that includes al-Qaeda in Iraq, confirmed the death of one of its leaders in a statement posted on a Web site frequently used by the group.

The U.S. military had previously said that Abu Usama al-Tunisi was killed by coalition forces on September 25 in Mussayib, south of Baghdad.

"We bring to the Islamic Umma [nation] in general and the Mujahideen specifically, the good news of the martyrdom of the Mujahid leader Abu Usama al-Tunisi," the Islamic State of Iraq statement read. "He was one of the seasoned immigrants to the fields of Jihad in the land of the two rivers [Iraq]. He fought many battles and was a solid mountain."

The statement did not give details of when, where or how he was killed, but confirmed that al-Tunisi was a member of the group's senior leadership.

Al-Tunisi and his fighters turned "the areas south of the state of Baghdad into a triangle of death for the crusaders' forces and their tails," the post said.

Last week, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Joseph Anderson, chief of staff for the Multinational Corps-Iraq, told reporters that al-Tunisi's death was "a significant blow" to al Qaeda in Iraq. The Tunisian, he said, was considered the "emir of foreign terrorists in Iraq." By Reuters

F24
Poland's envoy to Iraq wounded in Baghdad blasts

BAGHDAD, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Poland's ambassador to Iraq was
wounded on Wednesday when his diplomatic convoy was hit by a
series of bombs in central Baghdad, which Polish officials
described as an assassination attempt.

Iraqi police said one civilian was killed in the attack and
five people were wounded, including three embassy officials.

"It was an assassination attempt. Our three cars drove onto
mines," a Polish foreign ministry spokesman said in Warsaw.

"A few people are wounded. Our ambassador, Gen. Edward
Pietrzyk scrambled out (of the wreckage) on his own."

Poland backed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 which
toppled Saddam Hussein and currently has around 1,000 troops in
the country.

The explosions took place on a busy road in the Arasat
district of central Baghdad.

Reuters Television pictures showed a European looking man
with his head, leg and hands bandaged being evacuated in a
helicopter which landed in the street.

Iraqi soldiers said the man, who was surrounded by security
guards and troops, was the Polish ambassador. They said other
wounded people had been taken by vehicle to the heavily
fortified Green Zone for treatment.

Three cars appeared to have been hit in the attack. Two of
them were completely burnt out and the third, a sports utility
vehicle with shaded windows, carried a red and white looking
diplomatic flag, a witness said.

The street had been blocked off by Iraqi security forces.

Several diplomats have been killed by suspected al Qaeda
militants in Baghdad since the 2003 invasion. Last year four
Russian diplomats were abducted and killed.

In 2005 militants said they had killed Egyptian mission
chief Ihab el-Sherif and Bahrain's envoy was shot and wounded
when gunmen opened fire on his car.

Iraqi security forces, backed by thousands of extra U.S.
troops, have imposed a security crackdown across the Iraqi
capital in recent months in an effort to curb sectarian fighting
and militant attacks.

Both Baghdad and Washington say the campaign has led to a
clear reduction in violence. But a group led by Sunni Islamist
al Qaeda fighters pledged last month to step up attacks to mark
the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.