Dozens of security force members held over Baghdad bombs

BAGHDAD (AFP) - More than 60 soldiers and policemen, including 13 officers, have been arrested over twin bombings in central Baghdad that killed 153 people, a security spokesman said on Thursday.
Those arrested were deployed in the Salhiyeh neighbourhood of the capital where the suicide attackers blasted government buildings on Sunday and wrought havoc in the streets, said Major General Qasim Atta, spokesman for Baghdad operations command.
The commission of inquiry into the double attacks on Sunday ordered the arrest of 13 officers of various ranks, and 50 members of the security forces responsible for the protection of Salhiyeh, he told AFP.
Among those arrested, said Atta, were six army officers and seven senior policemen, including the chief of police of Salhiyeh under whose jurisdiction falls the justice ministry, one of the attackers targets.
Also rounded up, he added, were the commanders of 15 security checkpoints in Salhiyeh.
The health ministry meanwhile said the toll from the attacks claimed by Al-Qaeda stood at 153 people and more than 500 wounded.
The final toll is 153 people dead, ministry spokesman Sabah Abdullah said.
It is difficult to know what proportion were men, women or children, he added, alluding to the terrible disfigurement wrought on the bodies of the dead by Sundays bombings at the justice ministry and the Baghdad provincial governors office.
Though violence has dropped across Iraq compared to last year, the death toll from the bombings comes close to matching the total number of people killed as a result of attacks in all of September, which was 203.
The investigation took on a political dimension Thursday, with parliaments defence and security committee calling on Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to detail the security situation and the challenges Iraq faces in a question and answer session with parliament as soon as possible.
It has also required ministers responsible for security to submit a detailed report on the attacks to the Council of Representatives within 48 hours, and to answer questions over the bombings.
The capitals governor, Salah Abdul Razzaq, has blamed negligence or even collusion by the security forces, and has called for Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani and Baghdad Operations Command chief Lieutenant General Abboud Qanbar to be sacked.
Abdul Razzaq has broadcast CCTV footage showing a white truck carrying what he said were two tonnes of explosives, driving up to the justice ministry building.
Trucks are barred from entering Baghdad, especially Salhiyeh, during daylight hours.
Defence ministry spokesman Major General Mohammed al-Askari told AFP this week that security forces raided two houses in Baghdad, where they found bomb-making materials, and made arrests.
It looks like the same materials used on Bloody Wednesday, he said, referring to August 19 bombings at government ministries in Baghdad that killed around 100 people.
Askari said the evidence found confirmed the bombers were linked to Al-Qaeda and supporters of the Baath Party of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.
The attacks were claimed by the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq, Al-Qaedas front-group in the country, in an online statement, US-based monitoring group SITE Intelligence said Tuesday.
Al-Qaeda had previously also claimed responsibility for the twin truck bombings in Baghdad in August.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said the attacks would not affect Iraqi support for democracy and vowed that parliamentary elections scheduled for January would go ahead.
Ahead of the polls, Maliki has fashioned himself as a strong leader who has improved security across Iraq, and Sundays attacks, as well as those in August, have hurt his standing.
The attacks were widely condemned by the international community, with US President Barack Obama leading the way by slamming the attackers hateful and destructive agenda.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday he was sending an envoy to Iraq for preliminary consultations related to Iraqs security and sovereignty.