(New York Times) A huge car bomb destroyed the five-story Mount Lebanon Hotel in central Baghdad on Wednesday. At least 27 people were killed and 41 wounded. Survivors said Americans and Britons and other Europeans were among those staying at the hotel. Col. Ralph Baker, commander of the Second Brigade, First Armored Division, said the blast appeared to have been caused by a car bomb with at least 1,000 pounds of plastic explosives that had been combined with a core of wired-together artillery shells. He said the blast was "similar to that carried out in the past by Ansar al-Islam and the Zarqawi network."
2004-03-17 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive