FBI Says 2 of 3 Latest Iraq Bombs Similar

The FBI has identified similarities between two of the three recent bombings in Iraq but is not yet able to pinpoint whether the attacks were perpetrated by the same people, officials said Thursday.

FBI chemical tests found similar munitions were used in the Aug. 7 bombing of the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad and the attack on the United Nations headquarters there 12 days later, said John Pistole, a senior FBI counterterrorism official.

Results from tests on last Friday’s bombing of the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf should be available in a few days, Pistole added.

Pistole and Larry Mefford, the FBI’s top counterterrorism official, told reporters the explosives used in the two similar bombings could be widely available in Iraq. Presence of similar munitions do not necessarily prove the bombings are linked to the al-Qaida terrorist network, loyalists to the Saddam Hussein regime or other some other group.

“It’s too early to tell. I don’t think we know enough yet,” Mefford said.

Nineteen people died in the embassy bombing and 23 at U.N. headquarters. The Najaf mosque bombing killed up to 125, including leading Shiite cleric Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim.

The FBI has provided its lab resources and experts in forensics and bomb evidence to the fledgling Iraqi police force in the bomb investigations.

“Our intention is to assist them so they can identify the individuals behind the bombings,” Mefford said.

Iraqi officials have reported the arrests of a number of people in the bombings, including foreigners such as Kuwaitis, Palestinians and Saudis. Mefford, however, would not comment when asked if Iraq has now become a target of choice for anti-U.S. terrorists such as al-Qaida.