Military

DATE=01/18/04

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=IRAQ / BOMB BLAST (S)

NUMBER=2-311979

BYLINE= SONJA PACE

DATELINE=BAGHDAD

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

EDS: PLS WATCH WIRES FOR NEW INFO AND UPDATE INTRO WITH ANY NEW CASUALTY FIGURES

INTRO: A powerful explosion, believed to be a car bomb, went off central Baghdad Sunday morning, just outside the headquarters of the U-S - led coalition, killing or injuring a number of people and setting vehicles on fire. Most of the casualties are believed to be Iraqis. VOA's Sonja Pace reports from the Iraqi capital.

TEXT: Television footage showed injured people lying on the ground near a gate to the high-security coalition headquarters.

Reports say the blast occurred near what is called "Assassin's Gate" -- an entrance leading to what was once one of Saddam Hussein's palaces in the city, now used as the U-S civilian and military base.

This is an area where Iraqis line up daily to go to their jobs or to seek jobs with the coalition authority.

The explosion occurred around 8 am local time and was massive enough to be heard kilometers away across much of the city. It shook the ground and rattled windows throughout the center of Baghdad.

The last major attack in the capital was a car bomb which went off outside a popular city restaurant on New Year's Eve, killing at least eight people and wounding 30.

NEB/SP/MEM