'It was a strike at the symbolic heart of the city'

"Three huge explosions went off within just a few minutes of each other. As you can imagine, there was quite a lot of confusion and panic in the immediate aftermath of these explosions.

It is a very symbolic target, right in the centre of city close to the statue toppled at the end of the war, close to two hotels - the Sheraton and Palestine - which are home to foreign journalists and contractors.

There was a lot of gunfire between the explosions and after them and a lot of gunfire since. We don't know if it was insurgents or the police trying to establish control.

There is a lot of security, certainly around the Sheraton and Palestine Hotels, but the Paradise square where Saddam Hussein's statue was toppled is a public square and cars drive through it all the time. The hotels have been hit before by mortars. The aim was to strike at the symbolic heart of the city, to gather as much attention as the insurgents could and they have certainly done that with these three explosions which were clearly co-ordinated.

They scattered shrapnel over a very wide area. They blew out windows in our office, which is a couple of hundred metres away. There has been considerable damage at the Palestine Hotel and at least five people dead. At the time of the referendum there was a relative lull in the violence and we have seen a relative lull since then. I don't think anyone believed it was going to last."