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Suicide Bomber Kills 29 in Iraq Baghdad Restaurant Packed With Police

Posted on: Friday, 11 November 2005, 12:00 CST

By Sabrina Tavernise

A man wearing a suicide bomb belt walked into a bustling breakfast restaurant in the heart of Baghdad on Thursday morning and blew himself up, killing at least 29 people and wounding 30, many of them police officers, officials said.

Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility for the attack, according to SITE, a group that tracks Islamic militant postings.

The attack was the most lethal in the capital in two months and occurred a day after three suicide bombings in Amman killed 57 people in a coordinated attack also claimed by Al Qaeda.

The suicide bombing was the worst strike in a day of violence in Iraq that left at least 35 dead and more than 50 wounded. Police officials also found 27 corpses in the southern city of Kut.

The bomber struck shortly after 9:30 a.m. in the Qadouri Restaurant, a small place known for its traditional dishes of eggs and meat. It is popular among police officers and on Thursday was packed with the usual breakfast crowd.

The bombing appeared to be retaliation for a military operation in the western Iraqi city of Husayba, where American and Iraqi forces have been battling insurgents for six days.

On Monday, Al Qaeda promised fresh attacks if the forces did not withdraw in 24 hours.

The explosion occurred as the British foreign secretary, Jack Straw, arrived in Baghdad for meetings with Iraqi government officials. Straw, who had come from Amman, called on Syria to tighten security on its border with Iraq.

American commanders say that Iraq's border with Syria hundreds of miles of open desert is the entryway into the country for foreign fighters and suicide bombers, many of whom are affiliated with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian terrorist who is the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq.

"He still has the capability of recruiting suicide bombers, training them, and giving them munitions," Major General Rick Lynch, a spokesman for the American command, said of Zarqawi.

"That's what happened in Baghdad today and that's what happened in Amman yesterday."

The bombing Thursday stood out in the gruesomeness of its detail. When the bomb went off, the restaurant was so crowded that some patrons were standing, said Majid Ali, an engineer who left just moments before. The bomber appeared to have detonated himself near the cashier; his body was severed at the torso.

"I saw bodies flying everywhere," said Uday Mohamed Hassoon, who manages the restaurant's parking and whose ears were still ringing from the blast. "Five of my close friends were killed."

The restaurant, popular among Iraqi police officers and soldiers, who are frequent targets of insurgents here, had recently been threatened and had closed for several months, said Mohamed Abdel Qadr, a relative of the owner, a Sunni Arab in his 70's, whose nickname is Qadouri, as in the name of the restaurant.

Cement flower planters had recently been put up to protect against car bombs.

Something seemed wrong on Thursday morning, Hassoon said. A man carrying a large bag walked into the restaurant but did not order anything. Hassoon searched his bag and found only a Koran inside. Hassoon said he suspected the man was working with the bomber.

Later, a group of police officers appeared to hesitate before coming inside. A lieutenant colonel and five other officers walked in the front door and, exactly at that moment, the bomb exploded, said Hassoon who, in a stroke of luck, had walked outside to avoid the din of the restaurant to make a phone call.

"I cannot believe that I am still alive," said Ali, the engineer who also left the restaurant moments before the attack. "I should be at the forensic department now like the other people who were at the restaurant."

By late morning, rescue workers were gone and the area grew quiet. A man asked a police officer if his brother was among the dead. He walked off without a word when the officer answered yes. On the wall inside, the only two things left hanging were a small sprig of fake red flowers, and a medallion that had the word, "God" in gold letters.

Source: International Herald Tribune

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