Police: Blast kills 7 at Iraqi political office

[July 30, 2009]  BAGHDAD (AP) -- Police and hospital officials say a bomb has exploded in a building used by a Sunni-backed political group north of Baghdad, killing at least seven people and wounding 10.

The officials say the bomb was hidden inside a building used by the Reform and Development Movement, a Sunni-backed political group that was founded last year and that won four seats in the last provincial council elections.

A police official says the blast killed at least seven, wounded 10 and damaged the building. A medic at the hospital in Baqouba, where the victims were taken, confirmed the numbers. Baqouba is the provincial capital of the Diyala province.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

BAGHDAD (AP) -- After two days of denying people died during clashes this week between Iranian exiles and Iraqi security forces, the Iraqi government said Thursday that six people were killed in violence at the camp north of Baghdad.

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told The Associated Press that an investigation was under way to determine how the six Iranians died. It was the first official acknowledgment of casualties at the camp.

The Iranian group said that at least seven people were killed and hundreds wounded, and warned that the situation at Camp Ashraf remained tense. The violence has raised concerns about whether Iraq, which wants the Iranians out of its country, used excessive violence.

The setting up of the police outpost on the camp of the People's Mujahedeen Organization first sparked the deadly clashes Tuesday, creating a riot among the exiles and prompting the police to fight back with water canon and batons.

Al-Dabbagh said the situation at the camp was now stable and that a police station has been established inside the camp.

He denied excessive force was used, but added the investigation also was looking at what led to the clashes. He said two of the dead were shot in the back, raising the possibility they were killed by their own side.

"Six people of Ashraf Camp were killed and about 35 members of Iraqi police were injured because of the riot," al-Dabbagh said.

Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran -- an umbrella group that includes the People's Mujahedeen -- said seven people died.

Journalists have been refused entry to the camp, making it difficult to independently verify casualty numbers. The Iraq raid on Camp Ashraf has caused international concern and raised human rights issues.

The camp was first set up in 1986 to house Iranian fighters who were helping Saddam Hussein in the Iraq-Iran war. The exiles fear that if they are deported back to Iran they may be prosecuted by the government for the group's collaboration with Saddam.

Iraq has said it wants them to leave the country and seeks to close Camp Ashraf, located some 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of Baghdad.

Until recently, U.S. troops were tasked with providing security for the camp but the situation had grown increasingly tense since Jan. 1, when the U.S. transferred control to the Iraqis under a security agreement.

Al-Dabbagh said police needed to set up the outpost inside the camp to keep control.

"The government intends to have control of Ashraf from inside and outside," al-Dabbagh said, adding that the responsibility for the camp's security is Iraq's concern and is viewed as "part of government sovereignty."

"They live on Iraqi soil and not on a remote island, and it is the job of Iraqi government to have control on the security situation there," he added.

There are about 3,500 Iranians living in the camp.

U.S. and Iranian responses to the actions also have raised questions about how Iraq can balance its relationships with the two countries. The U.S. has repeatedly called for the Iraqi government not use force against the exiles, while Tehran has called on Iraq to evict the exiles.

The People's Mujahedeen is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S., but in the past has given the Americans intelligence on Iran. The group has appealed to President Barack Obama to intervene on their behalf, citing a 2003 agreement with the Americans under which the camp's residents gave up their weapons to U.S. troops in exchange for protection.

In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Wednesday for Iraq to show restraint and "not forcibly transfer anyone to a country where such a transfer might result in the mistreatment or the death of that person based on their political affiliation and activities."

[Associated Press; By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA]

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