IRAQ:A suicide bomber wearing a vest packed with explosives killed 40 people in a Baghdad college yesterday, a day after prime minister Nuri al-Maliki expressed optimism about a US-backed security crackdown in the capital.
In a blow for Mr Maliki, anti-American Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr reversed his previous support for the offensive, saying it would not work because US forces were involved. "There is no benefit in this security plan because it is controlled by the occupiers," Sadr said. Until now, Sadr has been broadly supportive of the plan, seen as a last ditch attempt to halt all-out civil war.
Guards stopped the bomber in the lobby of the Baghdad Economy and Administration College, attended by Shia Muslim and Sunni Arab students, but he managed to blow himself up. Police put the death toll at 40, with 35 people wounded. Most of the victims were students.
A string of car bombings and rocket salvos also hit Baghdad yesterday as US and Iraqi security forces stepped up efforts to drive Sunni insurgents out of the capital and stamp out Sunni-Shia sectarian violence. Washington has accused Shia Iran of fuelling violence in Iraq and says sophisticated Iranian-made weapons have been increasingly used by Iraqi militias to kill US troops.
But Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie told CNN that Iranians had stopped training and providing weapons to Iraqi Shia militants to give the security plan a chance to work.
"There is no doubt in my mind that recently in the last few weeks they have changed their position and stopped a lot of their tactics and interference in Iraq's internal affairs," Mr Rubaie said. It was unclear if he was referring to the government or other Iranians.
Meanwhile, Iraqi president Jalal Talabani has fallen ill and is travelling to Jordan for tests, his office said. "He had a drop in blood pressure. Doctors said he needs further tests," said deputy prime minister Barham Salih.
A professor at the Baghdad college said the suicide attack occurred as students were leaving morning classes and arriving for afternoon lessons. Others doing exams were wounded by flying glass that tore through their classroom, the professor said. "There were bodies everywhere," he added.
The college is part of nearby Mustansiriya University, hit by twin bombs last month that killed 70 people, mainly students.