intimated by terrorists, just hours after at least 34 people were killed in a series of suicide bombings that rocked the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
The first blast, which reportedly could be heard several kilometers away, occurred near the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) building where mostly Iraqis work. ICRC Spokesman Florian said two employees and at least 10 other people in the area were killed.
"I really cannot even imagine what the motives could be for carrying out such an attack," he told the Voice of America (VOA) network in ICRC headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
"I hope that the people who did carry it out are aware that whom they are actually harming with this are the Iraqis, not just those Iraqis who were killed and injured today. But, also those Iraqis we have been able to help over the last few months. And it seems to me that these people are really the main victims of these kinds of attacks," he added.
MORE EXPLOSIONS
Soon after the blast, another explosion rocked the capital, this one at a police station, several reports and eyewitnesses said. Police officials reported a pickup truck sped toward the station and exploded.
At least one American military policeman was killed along with three Iraqi policemen, and dozens of Iraqis wounded said.
Within minutes, a third bomb exploded near another Iraqi police station, causing an unknown number of casualties, news reports said.
CIVILIAN DEATHS
Iraq’s police chief Ahmad Ibrahim, who is also deputy interior minister, told a news conference that 26 of the 34 dead were civilians and eight police. Sixty-five police and 159 civilians were wounded in the series of blasts. He did not say if foreigners were killed, VOA and other networks reported.
Speaking at the White House after with the chief U.S. administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, U.S. President Bush said the latest violence shows that terrorists want "to stop the progress that is taking place in Iraq" and intimidate those who want a better future.
However he stressed "it is in the national interest of the United States that a peaceful Iraq emerges," and warned that America would "stay the course in order to achieve this objective."
NEW QUESTIONS ASKED
Yet the attack against the Red Cross, the second since july when one worker was killed, raised new questions about security in Iraq. It was not clear what effect the latest attacks would have on the ongoing distribution of food and other aid, which has also been carried out by American Baptists, as well as other international and local Christian organizations and churches.
However Iraqi Christians, which have suffered under Islamic extremism, have pledged to continue to spread see as the Good News of Jesus Christ, after they earlier urged prayers amid reports of revival despite the bloodshed, BosNewsLife learned.
Armenian Christians have already launched Norayek, or "New Dawn", an evangelical newspaper with Bible related news stories.
SPREADING ‘GOOD NEWS’
"We are issuing it in Arabic because so that all Iraqis will be able read it," said Editor Raffi Karakashian, one of the founders, in a statement received by BosNewsLife. "The Armenian Bishop blessed it. I believe one day I’ll see Iraqis more open to Christianity," he added.
Monday’s attacks that targeted both Christians and Muslims, after three United States soldiers were reportedly killed in separate attacks overnight on the first day of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
Earlier rockets slammed into the al- Rasheed Hotel in Baghdad that killed a U.S. army colonel and wounded 15 other people.
American Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was in the hotel when Sunday’s attack occurred but was not harmed.
