20 dead as hotel in Baghdad comes under attack

Three massive bombs, one of them a cement-mixing truck packed with explosives, blew up outside the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad - home to many foreign journalists in Iraq. Police said at least 20 people were killed.

The dead included civilians and Iraqi police, said Assistant Interior Minister Major General Hussein Kamal. At least One bomb exploded not far from the police post which sits on the northeast side of Firdous Square, just east of the hotel grounds.

Dramatic television pictures showed the cement mixer exploding in a huge ball of flame and a cloud of smoke billowing into the central Baghdad sky.

Iraq's national security adviser, Mouwafak al-Rubaei, said the attack - which appeared well planned - was a "very clear" attempt to take over the hotel and take foreign and Arab journalists as hostages. He said at least 40 people were injured, most of them passers by. The U.S. military said no U.S. troops were injured in the attacks.

The exploding cement truck blew a hole in a 12-foot concrete wall that separates the hotel from the square where an enormous statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled after U.S. troops captured the Iraqi capital on April 9, 2003.

U.S. soldiers maintain a presence inside the hotel compound. Afterward they increased their numbers on the perimeter of the 5-acre compound, which also includes the Sheraton Hotel.

Security sources said the explosions occurred two minutes apart, not long before Muslims marking Ramadan were preparing to break their day-long fast.

An AP photographer at a checkpoint at the northwest corner of the hotel said at least 3 fellow photographers from other media were injured and taken away by ambulance.

Three AP television personnel inside the hotel sustained minor injuries.

The death toll was reported by the Qatari-based Al-Jazeera and the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya networks, quoting Iraqi security officials.

The bombers did not penetrate the concrete blast walls around the Palestine Hotel, which was last hit by an insurgent rocket attack on Oct. 7, 2004.

There was considerable damage to the windows and rooms on the south side of the 19-story hotel. TV pictures showed debris falling from the building. Inside the hotel light fixtures were blown down, pictures were blasted off the walls and windows were shattered.

After the bombing, Iraqi forces opened up with heavy automatic weapons fire, apparently firing at random. There was no sign of a further assault on the hotel.

The Associated Press journalists had to evacuate their bureau in the hotel and take refuge in the corridor.