Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Governing council head appointed Iraqi president
At least 25 people were today killed in an explosion in Baghdad, only minutes after the Iraqi Governing Council had announced the country’s new interim government.
The blast tore through the headquarters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, close to the Iraqi capital’s heavily-guarded green zone.
There, the prime minister-designate, Ayad Allawi, formally announced the 26-member cabinet taking control from US-led authorities on June 30.
US soldiers were seen rushing to the scene of the explosion – believed to have been a car bomb – and shooting rang out.
The blast blew a huge crater into the ground at the entrance to the political offices. According to Reuters, a senior policeman at the scene said at least 25 people had been killed and many more injured.