DATE=5/13/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=IRAQ ATTACK (S&L)
NUMBER=2-262324
BYLINE=LISA BRYANT
DATELINE=CAIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Iraq says eight rockets exploded in Baghdad
Saturday, killing a three-year-old girl and wounding
four other civilians. An Iraqi opposition group
claimed responsibility for the attacks. But from
Cairo, Lisa Bryant reports that Baghdad is blaming
Iran.
TEXT: Iraqi officials say the rockets were fired
early Saturday morning at a residential area of
central Baghdad. Several government offices are
located in the area, along with foreign news agencies.
Officials took reporters to the site of the attack,
where two houses and a car had been damaged.
/// Opt for Long /// Scenes of the destruction were
recorded by the Qatari satellite channel, Al Jazeera.
The television footage showed a damaged crib and holes
in a wall of one building. /// End Opt ///
Killed in the attack was three-year-old Zahra Mohammed
Hammeed. Her relatives were treated for minor
injuries at a nearby hospital.
An Iraqi dissident group, the Supreme Council for the
Islamic Revolution in Iraq, claimed responsibility for
the attack. The group said it had targeted offices
near Baghdad's presidential palace.
But the Iraqi news agency says Baghdad is blaming Iran
for the attack. It quoted an Iraqi official saying
"Iranian agents" were responsible for the attack.
/// Rest Opt for Long ///
The Supreme Council group is one of the largest Iraqi
opposition organizations. Its stated goal is to
overthrow the government of President Saddam Hussein.
The group has claimed responsibility for strikes
against Iraqi troops in the south, and a 1989 attack
on a government intelligence building in Baghdad. The
group is based in Iran.
Relations between Iraq and Iran remain tense since
their eight-year war ended in 1988. Dissident groups
of both countries launch periodic cross-border raids.
The most recent occurred earlier this month when an
Iranian rebel group based in Iraq claimed
responsibility for a mortar attack in Tehran. On the
same day, rockets were fired on Baghdad injuring eight
people. (SIGNED)
NEB/LB/DW/JP
13-May-2000 11:08 AM EDT (13-May-2000 1508 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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