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Iraq

Suicide bomber on bus kills 32 in Baghdad

BAGHDAD - A suicide bomber detonated explosives Thursday inside a packed bus bound for a southern Shiite city, killing 32 people and wounding 44, police said. The blast pushed the three-day death toll from suicide attacks in the capital to at least 75.

Meanwhile, a statement posted on the Internet in the name of the Islamic Army in Iraq claimed to have killed an American hostage. The statement did not name him or provide photos, but the group earlier identified its captive as Ronald Alan Schulz and threatened to kill him unless all prisoners in Iraq were released.

The suicide attack occurred as the bus was pulling away from east Baghdad's Nadhaa station bound for Nasiriyah, 200 miles to the south. A man carrying a bag suddenly jumped on the vehicle through the open door, apparently waiting until the last moment to board to avoid security checks.

He was challenged by the conductor but insisted on taking a seat, police Lt. Wisam Hakim said.

"He sat in the middle of the bus and then the explosion took place," Hakim said.

Police Lt. Ali Mitaab said 32 people were killed and 44 wounded. Most of those killed were on the bus, which was gutted by flames, but several people around a food stall also died, police said.

Officials at the scene said the death toll was especially high because the blast triggered secondary explosions in gas cylinders at the stall.

Several other explosions rumbled through the heart of the capital Thursday morning, including one that struck an American convoy killing a U.S. soldier, the military said. The U.S. command also said that a Marine was killed the day before in a bombing in Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad.

The station, the main departure point for buses heading to the Shiite south, was the scene in August of a horrific triple car bombing that killed at least 43 people and wounded 89.

At least 1,819 Iraqis have been killed in suicide attacks since the new government took office on April 28, according to a count by the Associated Press. During that period, at least 4,676 Iraqis were killed in war-related violence, including suicide attacks.

U.S. and Iraqi officials had predicted a surge in insurgent attacks ahead of Thursday's parliamentary elections. U.S. officials hope a large turnout, especially among Sunni Arabs, will help take the steam out of the insurgency and set the stage for a drawdown of American forces next year.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said he could not confirm the death of the American hostage. Schulz's family in North Dakota said he was an electrician and was last heard from in Amman, Jordan. His brother, Ed, said he was advised by the State Department that Schulz might still be alive.

It was the first time in more than a year that a group from the Sunni-led insurgency announced the slaying of an American hostage. Another American, freelance writer Stephen Vincent of New York, was abducted and killed in August, and police blamed Shiite militants.

The Web statement posted Thursday said the Islamic Army killed "the American security consultant for the Housing Ministry" after the United States failed to respond to its demand of the release of Iraqi prisoners.

Another group, the Swords of Righteousness, has set a Saturday deadline, threatening to kill four Christian humanitarian workers abducted two weeks ago, including an American, two Canadians and a Briton. A French aid worker and a German citizen are also being held by kidnappers.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Thursday he expects some 20,000 U.S. troops to return home from Iraq after next week's elections, and he suggested that some of the remaining 137,000 forces could pull out next year.

The Pentagon chief also said he believed the White House and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., would "end up working something out" during negotiations over legislation standardizing interrogation techniques and banning mistreatment of foreign terrorism suspects in U.S. custody.

Rumsfeld made his comments between closed-door meetings on Capitol Hill with House members, part of an effort by the Bush administration to communicate better with Congress about the war. Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also attended.

AMMAN, Jordan - Three men threatened Saddam Hussein's chief lawyer as he boarded a plane Thursday from Baghdad to Jordan and were removed from the flight, the attorney said.

Khalil Dulaimi did not say how the men threatened him. He did not identify the men but said he knows them and believed that one of them was an Iraqi security official plotting to kill him.

Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, a member of Hussein's defense team in the trial on mass murder charges, said the three who directly threatened Dulaimi "were planning to board the plane. ... The security people removed them."

Clark said other lawyers also received threats in the Baghdad courtroom this week during the three sessions of the trial for Hussein and his seven co-defendants.

[Last modified December 9, 2005, 01:20:12]