Blast in Baghdad kills one; troops arrest over 100

Baghdad - Guerrillas set off a roadside bomb in a crowded Baghdad shopping district on Tuesday as U.S. military vehicles drove past, killing one Iraqi civilian and wounding several others.

The attack came as U.S.-led forces launched raids across the country to mop up insurgents. Military spokesman Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt said more than 100 suspected guerrillas had been taken into custody since Monday.

The bombing in the bustling Karada district of central Baghdad, was the second attack on U.S. troops in the area in three days. Two children and a U.S. soldier were killed in a similar blast on Sunday.

"The pavement just blew up everywhere," said Abbas Aboud, a passing motorist who received minor wounds to his face.

The capital has been on tenterhooks because of fears of increased attacks around New Year. The U.S.-led coalition has stepped up patrols and warned troops and staff to be vigilant.

The Karada bomb went off as hundreds of people were out on the streets -- children going to school, workers going to their offices and shopkeepers opening up for business.

Witnesses said the bomb, most likely placed on the concrete divider of a main street, was apparently aimed at two U.S. military vehicles passing by. Neither was badly damaged.

One Iraqi was killed on the spot.

In a search near the town of Samarra in the volatile "Sunni triangle" north of Baghdad, soldiers found a cache of weapons along with "al Qaeda literature and an al Qaeda video," Major Josslyn Aberle of the 4th Infantry Division told reporters.

The weapons haul, found behind a false wall in a shed, included bomb-making equipment, one bomb that had already been assembled, 43 grenade launchers and 25 AK-47 assault rifles.

U.S. officers say they believe some foreign Muslim militants are co-operating with Iraqi guerrillas to launch attacks. They say some 10 percent of anti-coalition militants are foreigners.

The bodies of five Bulgarian and two Thai soldiers killed in coordinated suicide car bomb, mortar and machinegun attacks in the holy city of Kerbala at the weekend arrived home on Tuesday. Saturday's attacks also claimed the lives of 12 Iraqis and wounded scores.

In Sofia, hundreds of citizens, government officials and foreign mission heads paid their last respects to the slain Bulgarian soldiers as they lay in state.

"Today we are parting with the idea of the safe presence of the Bulgarian soldiers in Iraq. This is a war, a real war," Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov said.

In Bangkok, officials gathered at a military airport for the arrival of the two coffins of the first Thai troops killed in combat abroad since the Vietnam war.

Defense Minister Thammarak Isarangura told those gathered for a ceremony at the airport that Thai troops would finish their humanitarian mission despite the deaths. Some opposition politicians have called for Thai troops to be pulled out. -- Reuters

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