Baghdad hotel car bomb kills 4, wounds 17

Baghdad - A car bomb exploded in front of a hotel used by Westerners in central Baghdad on Wednesday, partially destroying the three-story building and killing at least four people including a South African, officials said.

Three burned out cars were seen in front of the Shaheen hotel, only their metal skeletons remaining. Another half burned car lay a short distance away, on Masbah street in the upscale Karadah district.

The U.S. military command and Karadah police chief Kadhim Khalas said three Iraqis were killed. At least 17 people were admitted to four hospitals including a foreigner, doctors said. Khalas said it was not clear if the car carrying the explosives was moving or stationary.

A hotel receptionist, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a South African guest was also killed. He gave no other details.

Interim Minister of Work and Social Affairs Sami Izara al-Majoun, who lived in the hotel, told The Associated Press that he was getting ready for his morning prayers when a loud explosion shook his room at about 6.50 a.m. and the building was filled with smoke.

"My guards came to the room and rushed me downstairs. The hotel was burning and there was fire and smoke everywhere," he said, adding that he was unhurt.

He said some foreigners were staying in the hotel but didn't know their nationalities or profession. He said he saw injured people including one foreigner being led out of hotel in the melee.

"The persons behind this attack are cowardly terrorists who are targeting civilians and foreigners. We are not going to be scared and we will not hide as Saddam Hussein did," he said.

Residents and relatives of hotel employees said the hotel had received anonymous threats, asking the management to evict foreigners. This could not be independently confirmed.

Parts of the hotel's concrete walls were torn away, leaving gaping holes and destroying the interior. The walls that remained were blackened.

Two other buildings nearby were badly damaged -- one housing policemen assigned to protect embassies in the area, and the other a company that sells fire extinguishers.

It was not known if any policemen were injured.

"Everything in our office is destroyed. Nothing is in one piece. Only the concrete is still standing," said Main Mohammed, a partner in the fire extinguisher company who was sleeping in the building and was woken up by the blast and a shower of broken glass.

The Shaheen hotel is close to the former U.S. Embassy, the Belarus Embassy and a police station.

The blast occurred a day after two roadside bombs exploded west and south of Baghdad, killing six U.S. troops and two Iraqis. Also Tuesday, two CNN employees were shot and killed by unidentified assailants on a highway, just outside Baghdad when they were driving back from an assignment.

At least five hotels used by foreigners in Baghdad have been attacked by insurgents in the past with car bombs, rockets and other explosive devices.

Car bombs have become a favorite weapon of insurgents fighting a guerrilla war against U.S.-led coalition forces since the ouster of Saddam's regime last April. They have usually targeted U.S. troops and Iraqi police, but often Iraqi civilians have been the victims.

A suicide car bomb at the gate of the U.S. compound in Baghdad on Jan. 18 killed at least 31 people and injured more than 120 Iraqis. -- Associated Press

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