WASHINGTON (AP) — Deadly bombings in Baghdad’s Green
Zone have touched off a U.S. security review and a search for
evidence to determine if terrorists linked to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
carried out the attacks.
- Beth Dykstra
- U.S. soldiers carry a bag of body parts from a street market in downtown Baghdad after two bombs were detonated in the Green Zone yesterday. (ap photo)
Two bombers penetrated the tightly guarded area of the Iraqi
capital and struck at a bazaar close to the U.S. Embassy annex and
at a cafe. Witnesses said both carried backpacks and spent
considerable time sipping tea in a cafe before striking.
Four employees of the private U.S. security firm DynCorp were
killed and a fifth wounded. Three State Department workers were
injured. At least six Iraqis died.
Condemning the bombings and extending sympathies to the families
of the victims, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said
yesterday, “Our people who go out (to Iraq) know that they
are serving in dangerous circumstances.”
But, he said, “It’s obviously very sad and
unfortunate when something happens to them or to the Iraqis who are
working with them in the Green Zone and elsewhere in the
country.”
Americans and Iraqis working at the embassy were instructed to
remain inside the complex indefinitely. Boucher said an
investigation and security sweeps were under way.
Two other U.S. officials said the contract workers were from
DynCorp, which assists in trying to protect U.S. facilities. Mike
Dickerson, a spokesman for Computer Services Corp., DynCorp’s
parent company, said three employees had been killed. and a fourth
was missing. Their identities were not being released pending
notification of their families.
Security arrangements were put under immediate review. Boucher
said it is “much too early to start speculating” about
possible changes.
“Every time there is an incident like this we
automatically look for what we can do to improve security for
everybody who lives and works in these areas,” Boucher said.